Meet The Texas McCombs MBA Class of 2021

Rowling Hall

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

TM: “Something that prospective students might not know is the extent that Analytics is an area of both strength and depth at Texas McCombs, throughout multiple academic departments. Because of this strength, we have embedded data analytics across several disciplines, from Predictive Analytics and Data Mining to Analysis of Markets to People Analytics, rather than creating a one-size-fits-all core analytics course. A new addition to our suite of analytics courses is our new Performance and Sports Analytics course taught by Kirk Goldsberry, ESPN NBA analyst, basketball writer, and former VP of Strategic Research for the San Antonio Spurs. The course investigates the evolution of sports analytics, contextualizes this evolution within our society, and challenges students to immerse themselves in a world where performances are measured, ranked, modeled, and predicted.

Furthermore, as part of Dean Jay Hartzell’s strategic plan, the Texas McCombs Center for Analytics and Transformative Technologies was launched. Let me quote from our press release: “The center will foster interaction and collaboration amongst faculty, industry leaders, and students to apply data-driven research in understanding and addressing significant business challenges that are of value to both industry and academia. “The Center for Analytics and Transformative Technologies is a great resource for attracting and developing the next generation of elite business thinkers,” said Jay Hartzell, Dean of the McCombs School. “We envision that it will help facilitate data exchange between academia and industry, while also providing the opportunity to team up on research that addresses pressing industry challenges.”

One component of the Center for Analytics and Transformation Technologies is the Blockchain Initiative at Texas McCombs. Last year, Dean Jay Hartzell announced that the McCombs School of Business was among 17 academic recipients worldwide selected for Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative. As part of this program, Ripple has made a five-year, multimillion-dollar commitment to support McCombs blockchain technology research, activities and course development. We look forward to seeing how our students benefit from this partnership.”

P&Q: Last year, you opened Rowling Hall and rolled out some revisions to your MBA curriculum. How have these benefits enhanced the MBA student experience?

TM: “Rowling Hall has been a game-changer for our program. An intensely collaborative, human-centered project, spearheaded by Sr. Associate Dean Eric Hirst, resulted in this nexus for business exchange, a space that elevates interactions, connections, programming and daily life. The building was designed with transparency in mind to encourage spontaneous interaction and unexpected connections. One very simple example of that is the how we have positioned 1st year MBA core classrooms across multiple floors which encourages more organic interaction between our classes and amongst our MBA community as they pass each other in the halls and on our central open-air staircase. (Not to mention that this inviting, dynamic five-story stairway clocks 10 standard flights on any wellness tracker)

First day of orientation – Class of 2021

This design strategy has allowed us to mine and optimize the overlapping communities we welcome into the building. Situated at the corner of campus, we sit intentionally at the intersection of UT campus and the Austin business community, each offering the other points of exploration, connection, and collaboration. What better location to situate a top business school than at the juncture of one of the most vibrant university campuses and one of the fastest-growing talent markets in the country? Our students are treated to a multifaceted live laboratory right outside our door.

Most importantly, the space offers an array of learning options to support the rapidly changing needs of our students and faculty. I love seeing the innovative ways our community has found to use the space beyond our original imaginations. Every day is an exploration of what is possible.

In the past year since Rowling Hall opened, we have hosted a variety of events that have allowed for more impactful interactions amongst students, faculty, the city of Austin, and the greater business community. Just a sample of those events include our inaugural Elevate: Diversity & Inclusion conference, the annual MBA México Conference, the Texas Blockchain Activities and Research Showcase, the UT Center for Enterprise & Policy Analytics’ Financial Crisis Symposium, the Texas McCombs MBA Board Fellows Showcase, and the 25th Anniversary Celebration of our pioneering MBA Investment Fund, which was the first legally constituted, private investment company to be managed by students. Some of the speakers we have had the honor of hosting at Rowling Hall include Bill Gurley, Venture Capitalist/General Partner at Benchmark (and Texas McCombs MBA ‘93); Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners and Philanthropist; Robert Iger, Chairman & CEO of The Walt Disney Company; Ty Haney, CEO of Outdoor Voices; John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, and DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFL Players Association.”

Orientation Team Challenge

A COACHING CULTURE

The McCombs MBA has also been long-known for its MBA+ Leadership program, replete with one-ono-one coaching, seminars, workshops, and team-based consulting projects with real clients. The program is designed to enhance students’ soft skills, along with enabling them to apply business fundamentals and best practices they learn in the classroom. It is a deeply personalized program, one where the executive coach-to-student ratio is 6.5-to-1. At its heart, the MBA+ Leadership program represents the hands-on nature of the McCombs MBA experience as a whole.

“One of the things I found most attractive about McCombs was the myriad real-world learning opportunities that it offers,” explains Rahul Sekhar Rajasekharan Nair. “The MBA+ micro consulting, the Board Fellows program, etc. provide immense exposure to one’s target industry while at the same time enabling you to network amongst the right crowd.”

Which opportunity excites Nair the most? He points to the Board Fellows program, where he can be involved in decision-making with a local nonprofit. “This will allow me to experience the entire gamut of nonprofit operations while at the same time enabling me to contribute back to society. That’s the Longhorn way of doing things.”

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2019 alumni survey, Texas McCombs earned the highest score among respondents for Health Competitiveness. This #1 ranking speaks to the larger culture of the program, which stresses interaction and respect – a place where students can “grow independently together.”

THE CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER OF YOU

“I like that McCombs recognizes the unique mix of skill and perspective one can have as an individual and brings that into a collaborative context, where the synergy created from the combined uniqueness of different individuals yields greater impact,” adds Tochi Kanu-Ivi.

Another differentiator at McCombs? Think career services. McCombs ranked among the best career centers in the world according to the 2018 Economist alumni and student survey. At McCombs, employers are treated as partners according to Assistant Dean Janet Huang. The school exchanges market intelligence with them, funneling the insights they gain into new programming for students. One example is the BA 181 (Strategic Career Planning) course. A requirement in McCombs’ semester-long core and taught by career center staff, the course charts a unique approach to personal development by basing it around a product launch framework.

“The idea is that each student is a CMO of a new product that they are launching and that product is the “new you” that you are trying to get into a new marketplace,” Huang outlines. “The idea around the framework is that if you have your strategy right, then your tactics will be easy. What I mean by tactics is reviewing your resume, preparing your Linkedin profile, or doing mock or case interview preparation. The work that you do upfront before that is strategy. The strategy is around doing a market assessment or the due diligence of the market you’re trying to get into and understanding your personal value proposition and where you fit into the new marketplace. That’s really where the rubber meets the road in terms of what actually differentiates what we teach in the classroom as it relates to career strategy.”

Texas McCombs’ Career Management Team

“WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD”

When it comes to the center’s success, Huang returns to McCombs’ commitment to one-on-one coaching, along with ongoing and intensive support for career planning by her team. “Our role is to ensure that they have the right plan in place to hold them accountable for implementing the plan,” Huang says. “If things don’t work out, how do they pivot?”

Eric Caste, a 2019 P&Q MBA To Watch, jokes that you will hear two slogans around McCombs: “What starts here, changes the world” and “Human-Centered. Future Focused.” You’ll find those sentiments informing the Class of 2021’s future plans. Caroline Green, for one, plans to become a chief medical officer, one where her MBA lessons are infused in her training. Over that same period, Tianyu Zhou intends to build a legal technology consultancy firm to streamline processes and reduce compliance risks. Tyrone Smith also plans to channel his love of athletics into a career. His dream job is building the Formula 1 brand, but any venue will do…with a caveat.

“I see myself collaborating across different departments and businesses within a company to drive real growth and change. I want to get marketing on the same page as sales, finance on the same page as operations, and accounting on the same page as…well I don’t know much about accounting so I’ll finish that thought in May 2021.”

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
Gonzalo Herreros Aguirre Santiago, Chile Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile VSPT Wine Group
Roberto Aguayo Diaz Hermosillo, Mexico Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Sonora Norte LEAP Global Partners
Caroline Green Drexel Hill, PA University of Notre Dame U.S. Air Force
Tochi Kanu-Ivi Lagos, Nigeria Covenant University KPMG
Nolan Melson Iowa City, IA U.S. Military Academy Capgemini
Rahul Sekhar Rajasekharan Nair Trivandrum, India Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Indian Space Research Organization
Larisa Olteanu Republic of Moldova University of Houston ExxonMobil
Andie (Andrea) Parazo San Antonio, TX Rice University Facebook
Sofia Baeza Perez Mexico City, Mexico Universidad Panamericana RION M&A
Tyrone Smith Southampton, Bermuda Missouri University of Science and Technology Bermuda National Athletics Association
Shaivya Vashishtha Kota, India Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi CropConnect Enterprises
Tianyu Zhou Jiangyin, China Renmin University of China Berber Museum

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