Steven Yang

UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business

“Calm under pressure, quietly dependable, and committed to meaningful impact in the lives of others.”

Hometown: Anaheim, California

Fun fact about yourself: I love extreme thrills – from skydiving to extreme napping at the beach.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of California, Riverside – B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? U.S. Army, Armor Officer

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? I interned with Tesla (Austin, TX) as an MBA Supply Chain intern on their Construction Procurement and Indirect Procurement teams.

Where will you be working after graduation? I will be returning to Tesla upon graduation.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: As a Merage Student Ambassador and VP of the Veterans’ Association, I helped moderate Admissions Q&A panels, mentored incoming veterans, and assisted incoming candidates to best position themselves for the internship recruiting cycles.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of helping to reignite the Challenge 4 Charity club and planning the inaugural sports day. Connecting with other west coast MBA programs to set the foundation for a multi-school competition in the future helps to further promote the charities under our cause. We’ve brought together eight other specialty masters programs within our campus, gained administrative buy-in, provided an avenue for continued service, and raised ~$500 from sports-related events alone in 2025.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? When I first became an executive officer for a unit of over 100 soldiers, we were ranked #35 of 37 organizations under our deployable headquarters. One year later, as I moved onto my next role, my unit was consistently ranked #1 or 2 across every metric. We were the first unit in recent memory to not have received a command climate complaint. As I left the unit, my boss and all 100+ soldiers gave me the unit’s flag, a symbol that I helped make their jobs just a bit easier and their lives a little bit brighter.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Merage for the level of support offered by the program’s Career Services. Any veteran knows how challenging it can be to pivot from our military identity to a new path in a short period of time. Classmates and veterans from the cohort before me demonstrated the amazing support provided, making my decision to attend Merage simple.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite professor is Maritza Salazar Campo due to how she challenged me to look beyond my Plan A and Plan B. She helped me surface skills that I did not think were relevant towards the roles I was pursuing, connected me with her network of senior leaders, and took time out of her busy schedule to help me better understand an industry I was not initially considering.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course has been Negotiations, taught by Professor Chris Bauman. From the weekly practical negotiations that build upon the week prior to the immediate usefulness of what we learn, I’ve been able to confidently assess tradeoffs beyond the workplace and also apply these skills in my daily life.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite event was our MBA Formal where all of the graduate business school programs gathered on a yacht for an end of the year celebration. We reflected on the pace and progress we made over the last year, celebrated the graduates on their professional journeys, and created lasting memories through dancing and laughter.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? One thing I would absolutely do differently is listen to my career advisors early. I felt overconfident in my chances to land my initial dream role and threw caution to the wind, effectively putting all my eggs in one basket. When I failed to convert the offer, I felt embarrassed, but my career advisors reached out first and continued to provide world-class support through my internship and beyond.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful case study is “GM and the All-Electric Future” prepared by Professor John Joseph. The case helped me understand the importance of designing a portfolio and supply chain ecosystem strategy under uncertainty, especially when all other competitors are trying to push the fringe of what’s possible while chasing the same resources. Although most cases are typically backwards-looking, this case has been pivotal in shaping my future career aspirations in supply chains with advancing technologies.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I love most about Irvine, California is that you can see the snow-filled mountains and the beach. Despite California traffic, I could snowboard/ski in the morning, have a picnic in the park of the city in the afternoon, and watch the sun set over the horizon at the beach.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is a man named Gary who centers his success around privacy. Having built several companies and sitting on the boards of many others, he continues to give back to the younger generation through mentorship and fellowship through a program called Leadership Fellows, which is modeled after the Young Presidents Organization. His mentorship has helped me better define my professional goals, understand leadership challenges that I may face moving up the ladder, and he has also opened my eyes to personal growth opportunities that can complement ambitious work-life styles.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One of the most interesting ways Merage has integrated AI is creating personas of fictional business leaders that we can interact with throughout a given course. For example, in my International Management course, the personas of the officers of a fictional business challenged us to develop strategies and deliverables each week, but the personas would also respond based on what and how we deliver information. Having these personas grow with me throughout the course creates a level of realism that helps hammer the concepts home. I can see this utility becoming increasingly used in onboarding new employees for a wide range of functions, ensuring a faster ramp up and a more tailored onboarding experience.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? My classmate and fellow veteran, Michael Howe, is someone I admire and deeply respect. My opportunity with Tesla only materialized because he referred me after he had already accepted his own internship offer. I credit my current position to his selflessness and support in me transitioning from the military

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? My first item is to become a senior supply chain leader within the technology industry, whether through EVs, batteries, rockets, or alternative power sources. My second professional goal is to create a need-based scholarship fund for disadvantaged students and veterans in hopes of expanding access to more opportunities.

What made Steven such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“I place Steven in the top 1% of students I have encountered in my career, and I do not say that lightly. Steven is always the first one in the classroom. It sounds like a small thing, but it is not. That consistency speaks to who he is: disciplined, intentional, and ready before anyone asks him to be. He also brings a leadership perspective I rarely see in one person. As a former Army officer and trained engineer, he thinks in systems, executes under pressure, and somehow still manages to keep a team grounded when everything feels uncertain.

He is not the loudest voice in the room, but he is the steadiest. When problems get complicated and teams get overwhelmed, Steven is the one who cuts through it. His peers trust him not because he asks for it, but because he has already done the work.

Beyond academics, Steven is deeply committed to supporting fellow military veterans. He mentors students transitioning into graduate programs, moderates student panels, and helps peers navigate the recruiting process with real candor and empathy. I have also been impressed by how he has handled every mentoring relationship we have provided him as he takes each one seriously and always follows through. What stands out about Steven is not how much he does, but how he does it — with generosity, humility, and a genuine commitment to leaving things better than he found them. He has a very bright future ahead, and I expect to watch it with pride. I recommend him for the Best and Brightest designation without reservation.”

Maritza Salazar Campo
MBA Faculty Director & Associate Professor

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2026

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