Meet Arizona State’s MBA Class Of 2021

W. P. Carey Classroom

A Q&A WITH JOHN WISNESKI

P&Q: What are the most exciting new developments at your program?

JW: “New for 2019 was the launch of a specialization in high tech. This new component of our curriculum will enable students to apply their functional knowledge to specific challenges and opportunities in the technology sector. The benefit is that students targeting technology firms will approach the market well-versed in the industry trends that guide this market and its major players.

We continue to innovate within our functional areas of emphasis as well, and new for 2019 are the following course titles:

FinTech

Professional Sales Management

Marketing for Social Good

Advanced Consumer Behavior

Thought Leadership in Professional Services.”

John Wisneski

P&Q: What is the most underrated part of your program that you wish prospective students knew more about?

JW: “U.S. Nobel Laureate Robert J. Shiller has said, “In the longer run and for wide-reaching issues, more creative solutions tend to come from imaginative interdisciplinary collaboration.” At W. P. Carey, we took his words to heart and embedded true interdisciplinary learning into our core curriculum.

Every student is required to participate in an immersive lab experience that pairs them with graduate students from across our university in thinking cross-functionally to solve a socially embedded problem in the community. In these labs, students get to work with non-business students to frame a problem in an unfamiliar context and learn critical skills in influence and negotiation with non-business professionals.

Examples of recent lab projects include working with students from the School of Education to develop a results-based funding model to award $38 million appropriated by the state legislature to Arizona public schools, as well as working with students from the schools of Engineering and Sustainability to create a roadmap to make all government buildings in the town of Tempe, Arizona, carbon-neutral by the year 2035.”

P&Q: One of your program’s defining features is its Forward Focus curriculum. What are the key components of Forward Focus and how is it different than programming you might find in other business schools?

JW: “What sets our curriculum apart is the level of customization possible for students based on only their functional interests, but also their industry or market sector focus. Our areas of emphasis allow students to build skills in a traditional functional area such as marketing or finance, while specializations allow students to apply these skills to specific industries, such as health care or sports. We have seven different areas of emphasis and six different specializations, collectively offering students the opportunity to tailor their experience to ultimately meet their aspirational career goals in a very specific way.”

P&Q: W. P. Carey is well-known for intensive career preparation and executive coaching. What are some of the unique things you do for students in this area as part of your MBA programming and support? 

JW: “All W. P. Carey MBA students participate in an innovative mentoring program called Executive Connections, in which we pair students with VP and C-level executives from a myriad of industries to help them develop leadership skills and jumpstart their career-networking opportunities. We have well over 60 executive mentors who participate, and students engage their selected mentor in activities that include one-on-one meetings, lunch and learns, and topical workshops.”

W. P. Carey student in the courtyard.

INCREASINGLY INTERDISCIPLINARY        

For Abraham Levy, Executive Connections has reinforced what he has learned in classes so far. At the same time, adds Zoey Nguyen, the program reflects a more personal touch that truly tailors the MBA experience to her unique goals.

“As an international student, I would love to enrich my MBA journey in the U.S. as much as possible. I considered “Executive Connections” as a great opportunity to connect and build mentoring relationships with senior executive leaders from top firms in the U.S. such as Deloitte, Intel, Walmart, etc. That would be a unique learning experience that I could not gain from any schools. As a result of true understanding of my personal background and experience, the school matched me with a great executive mentor who had the background and career path that I aspired.”

Along with executives, the W. P. Carey MBA also partners students with people outside the business schools. For example, students are encouraged to take courses with the Thunderbird School of Global Management – or other programs at Arizona State such as the School of Sustainability. To further expose MBAs to different disciplines and deepen their skill sets, W. P. Carey also conducts Interdisciplinary Applied Learning Labs.

“These labs take place during the second year of the MBA program and they partner MBA students with other (non-business) master’s students across ASU’s campus,” writes Erin Grady, who started her career as a high school English teacher. “The team is then paired with a business to collaborate on action-learning projects that incorporate real-world experience. This is important to me because I want to gain additional experience working in business before I graduate, and it will also provide a great opportunity to grow my cross-functional leadership skills.”

Arizona State W. P. Carey’s School of Business

PHOENIX ROCKS

The Class of 2021 will find plenty of opportunities to do just that beyond W. P. Carey or Arizona State.

“The Phoenix metropolitan area offers the perfect combination of lifestyle and career opportunities and the quality of those opportunities will only improve as the area grows,” observes Christopher Carpentier. “When you drive into Tempe (the city-within-a-city where the main ASU campus resides), you are struck by the sheer amount of construction that is going on around the campus — much of it spurred on by ASU’s tremendous growth in terms of both student quantity and quality. Plenty of brand new 20 or 30-story apartment and office buildings are going up across the city. World-class corporate logos dot the new lake-front office park: KPMG, State Farm, Silicon Valley Bank, Waste Management, Zenefits, and Amazon. Jobs and talent are moving to the Phoenix Valley because the national workforce as a whole is interested in less crowds, less expensive living, and more beautiful desert sunrises and sunsets.”

Indeed, W. P. Carey’s appealing location, deep resources, and commitment to innovation combine to make the school all the more relevant. Along with its listen-and-act ethos, the true appeal of the program is centered in something all the more fundamental and elusive to deliver.

“W. P. Carey staff encourages students to follow their passions,” says Briana Nowak.” Coming from a less traditional business background with specific career goals, I knew the innovative environment at W. P. Carey would help me create my MBA experience. It’s become clear to me that at W. P. Carey business is personal.”

What led these professionals to enter business schools? Which programs did they also consider? What strategies did they use to choose their MBA program? What was the major event that defined them? Find the answers to these questions and many more in the in-depth profiles of these incoming MBA candidates.

MBA Student Hometown Undergrad Alma Mater Last Employer
Prestige Adaberemchi Obioma Abuja, Nigeria University of Ibadan Nigerian Defence Headquarters Medical Center
Ann Agbaneje Lagos, Nigeria University of Lagos Alistar Design and Build
Christopher Carpentier West Palm Beach, FL Florida Atlantic University Telit
Chaitanya Chintakayala Ongole, India Indian Institute of Technology – Roorkee Swiggy
David Darnell Phoenix, AZ U.S. Military Academy U.S. Army
Erin Grady Grand Rapids, MI University of Missouri Dysart Unified School District
Leonardo Jaraba Bejarano Cartagena, Colombia Universidad Tecnologica de Bolivar Bonduelle Fresh America
Hannah Jerdonek Phoenix, AZ Northern Arizona University Peace Corps
Abraham Levy Los Angeles, CA Fairleigh Dickinson University Amazing Home Care
Zoey Nguyen Hanoi, Vietnam Hanoi Foreign Trade University Megastore
Briana Nowak Alpharetta, GA Georgia College and State University State of Michigan Office for New Americans
Matt Totlis Phoenix, AZ University of Arizona Prosper Marketplace

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MBA CLASS OF 2021: THE GO-GETTERS

Connect With W.P. Carey's MBA program

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