Ryan Anderson

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business

“Authentic, stoic thinker with a passion for connecting and collaborating with others.”

Hometown: Rye, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: My childhood home is on a senior living community campus.

Undergraduate School and Major: Georgetown University, Health Care Management & Policy

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Walker Information, Technology Consultant II

When you think of Notre Dame, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Mendoza program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? Notre Dame is an institution that you are proud to be a part of, built around strong values and a call to be a force for good in the world. I often heard about the strong Notre Dame alumni base, and my experience with it has been amazing. Every alum I reached out to answered my call and genuinely wanted to help me – essentially a stranger – because of our shared bond of Notre Dame. Because you are Notre Dame, there is a shared understanding of who you are, what you stand for, and all the good you will accomplish.

Aside from your classmates, what was the one key part of the Mendoza MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Mendoza is more than a business school; it develops you as a person. Notre Dame understands that being a leader is more than just having the right numbers and executing. You need to be a well-rounded person and bring a human touch to the work you do. Therefore, the programming is centered around becoming a tender, strong, and true leader: someone who is able to connect with people and perform at a high level around a shared purpose. For me, I wanted to get the education I needed to advance my career while building on a foundation of values. To do that, Notre Dame is the perfect place.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Mendoza?

The Mendoza Rallies are some of my favorite events. Every Friday before home football games, Mendoza hosts a tailgate that brings together the whole Mendoza community with everyone in town for the game. At the rallies, I have enjoyed being able to unwind at the end of the week with classmates, get to know faculty and Mendoza leadership on a personal level, and meet some amazing alumni who traveled in from all over the country for that week’s game.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I have primarily worked on smaller teams so far in my career. These lean teams provided me the flexibility to be creative in solving problems and expand my role, which accelerated my initiative and professional development. It also brought a ton of situations where I needed to be adaptable on the fly. In the process, I was able to address unexpected situations with how we aimed to collect and manage data, as well as communicate actionable insights quickly to leaders.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? It was an adjustment transitioning to being a full-time student again. Learning in a formal classroom setting is a lot different than learning in the workplace. Thankfully, Notre Dame’s practical and experiential learning approach helps to bridge that gap. Friends would joke that going back for my MBA would be a two-year vacation. In reality, you work a lot, but you also learn a lot. Personally, I have started to see all that hard work pay off after a successful recruiting season and the rapid personal growth I have experienced over the last few months.

Mendoza is known as a purpose-driven MBA program that asks students to “Grow the good in business.” What is your mission and how has Mendoza been helping you realize it? I aim to create positive change through a human touch. Coming from a healthcare and senior living background, I learned to care for the whole person, not just the situation they were experiencing. The same can be true about business. As a leader, we need to be aware that each decision we make impacts the people around us. Mendoza is helping me learn the financial knowledge I desired with this holistic, values-centric approach in mind.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? The Grow the Good Gala serves as both an embodiment of the mission of Notre Dame and an exciting year-end event. During the charity gala, we learned more about Mercy Works, a service program within Campus Ministry dedicated to homeless outreach, and how to get more involved in their efforts. We also raised over $20,000 to support their service through a silent auction that featured a signed football from Notre Dame Running Back Jeremiyah Love, a painting of campus centered around the Golden Dome, and dinner with a professor. Also, getting dressed up for a black-tie event with new friends and their significant others to celebrate the end of the semester was a great capstone to the start of the program.

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