2020 MBAs To Watch: Dominic Mayr, Arizona State (W. P. Carey)

Dominic Mayr

W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University

“Light-hearted computer geek who loves to learn and make things better.”

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Fun fact about yourself: I’ve been playing bass guitar in a local band called Sedan Sedan since I was a teenager.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Arizona State University, 2013

  • Bachelor of Science in Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science in Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Information Security Analyst at PayPal, via staffing contract through insight Global.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2019? Arizona Public Service, Phoenix, Arizona

Where will you be working after graduation? I’m still looking for a full time role, but I’m seeking positions as an Information Systems Consultant

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:
MBAA (MBA Student Association), Vice President of Finance
Business Innovation Center, Project Manager

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I’m most proud of working with my first-year MBAA reps as part of my role as V. P. of Finance to create a new system for leaders of student organizations to track their spending and track expected attendance for their events. This system will help future classes more easily and transparently manage their budget.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m most proud of the work that I did at Aetna Medicaid IT.  I became very close with the project teams there. When we implemented a suite of project management tools that the enterprise was using, I worked hard on learning the systems, creating instructional material, and facilitating the transition to make it easy for everyone.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite professor is Reynold Byers.  He’s a creative type and always tries to incorporate having fun into his lesson plans.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite event was the trip to Camp Carey with the new admits.  At the beginning of my first year, I attended this with my phone class and a handful of second-years who set the stage for us and who we looked up to. Returning at the beginning of my second year to mentor the new admits was an experience that highlighted how much has happened and how far we’ve come in just one short year and the importance of our culture at W. P. Carey that each of us hold our hands out to help those who come next.

Why did you choose this business school? ASU stands for inclusion and innovation.  I knew that pursuing an MBA at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business would help me make new friends from around the world, present me with interesting problems I haven’t dealt with before, and enable me to push me to find creative solutions.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? The best advice I would give to an applicant is to be authentic. Everyone has something that makes them unique and it’s important to be able to identify and accept that about yourself. At the same time, be ambitious.  Ask the world for the things that you want, and go for it!

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth about W. P. Carey is that we are ‘just a supply chain school.’  As someone who is pursuing different areas of emphasis, I can tell you we have passionate, experienced and well-connected entrepreneurship professors. Our new consulting area of emphasis also gives great opportunities to connect with folks in industry from Accenture, Deloitte, Point B, and other great firms.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
One thing I would do differently is run for MBAA class president.  I felt that, because I had assisted Haley Magerman, then-Vice President of Finance in my first year, I was best equipped among my peers for the V. P. of Finance role.  While I still think that’s true, I could have taken a bigger risk and sought out an opportunity I was less familiar with.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I admire Mrinal Widge the most. Mrinal just has an aura of fearlessness. He seems to be traveling to a different country every weekend. While his carefree attitude can sometimes leave others with the wrong impression, he can often be found studying in McCord through the night, reflecting his strong work ethic.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? The person who most influenced my decision to return to school was D. J. Arguello. He was the Director of IT Audit at Aetna and was a great role model to me while I was there. D. J. really pushed me to consider what I really wanted out of my career and challenged me in a way that I knew he had my best interest at heart. I try to have that same effect on those around me, to push them to be better versions of themselves, that even they don’t know. The program here at W. P. Carey has given me ample opportunities to work on those skills.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

  1. Start my own cybersecurity consulting firm
  2. Stand in the middle of a high-energy tech innovation center and know that I had a critical hand in its creation

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you?  “Dominic can make this happen.”

Hobbies? I love to play bass guitar, ride my bicycle, program with Python, play and create computer games, and run fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons!

What made Dominic such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2020?

“Dominic Mayr is no stranger to a heavy academic load. Opting for a concurrent MS degree in Information Management in addition to his MBA, he has taken on average 26 credits per semester and excelled academically. Dominic also serves as Vice President of Finance for the MBAA (MBA Association), working to manage the budget for numerous club activities, which include lunch and learns, networking nights, and social events. Dominic is a true team player, always looking for opportunities to serve those around him; he can frequently be found saying “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Erica Day
Assistant Director of Academic Services

“As a concurrent degree-seeking student and the Vice President of Finance for the MBA Association, Dominic is a genuine go-getter. Dominic immerses himself in the learning opportunities available to him as a W. P. Carey student and believes in putting back into the program what he gets out. While on a Global Immersion trip in Tokyo, Japan, Dominic familiarized himself with the Japanese writing system and spoken language in an effort to accommodate the Japanese people. This is an example of his investment in the learning experience.”

Christine De La Cerda:
Full-time MBA Program Coordinator

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2020 MBAS TO WATCH or THE BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS OF 2020

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