UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

UCLA Anderson Veterans Discuss Culture, Transitions and Supporting the Troops

Jared Kerntke (’18) and Hagai (Guy) Nir (’18) currently serve as co-presidents of the Anderson Veterans Association. The organization’s membership cuts across the board to include students from UCLA Anderson’s full-time, fully employed and executive programs. The group’s membership is not limited to veterans of the United States armed forces, vets from around the world are welcome.

The relationship between the veteran community and the civilian population is part of the current news cycle, the country carrying on a very public discussion on what it means to “support the troops.” Nir and Kerntke were gracious enough to sit down with the UCLA Anderson Blog team to share their views on recent events and life at Anderson for those who’ve served.

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Q: To begin, why don’t you both tell our readers about your military careers?

Kerntke: I was in the Marine Corps for six years as a supply officer. I spent two years in Japan, three years in San Diego and one year all over. I joined straight out of college. I did not do ROTC, so I guess it was a little unusual in that regard. It was great. I love the Marines. I got out (of the Marines) in June and I started (at Anderson) in August. (I did) undergrad at Penn State.

Nir: I was in the Israeli Defense Forces. I was born and raised in Israel so there's mandatory service for us, but when you apply to a Special Forces unit you go through a qualification course. I got accepted to the Special Forces so I had to sign up for more years. The Israeli system is a bit different. You don’t go in as officers; rather, we join the ranks and then you get promoted. Then I was selected to go to the NCO course, and after that was selected to go to the IDF’s Officers Academy, coming out as a platoon commander. After three years I was promoted to company commander. Overall, I served almost five years active and seven years reserve, coming out as a major.

Global Field Study Students Apply Social Impact Focus to After-School Programs in South Africa

GAP Team 33 met with staff and students outside of Johannesburg at the Boys & Girls Club of Pimville, which is run by UCLA Anderson alumna Laura Parker (’13). Top row: Jamie Nichols, Sne Vilakazi, Courtney Reed, Kitty Moepang, Christina Lebo Tlhabanyane, Dominque Akens. Bottom row: Laura Parker, Chloe Vieira, Diamon Lockett, Tumi Ramasodi.

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By Dominique Akens, Diamon Lockett, Shaurya Nanavati, Jamie Nichols, Courtney Reed, Chloe Vieira (FEMBA Class of 2018)

Our Global Access Program field study focused on increasing support for after-school programs in South Africa. We addressed some of the country’s problems stemming from its broken education system, gang violence, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevalence and unemployment.

Supported by UCLA Anderson’s Center for Global Management, we partnered with two clients — Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa and The Learning Trust ― who believe after-school programming can fill gaps in the education system and help lift South African children out of poverty. We operated on the assumption that involving more youth in after-school programs (“ASPs”) would make them safer, strengthen their educational performance and broaden their post-educational opportunities.

We embarked on a thesis project that was markedly different from those of our Fully Employed MBA GAP peers, whose projects traditionally entail finding new growth opportunities for corporate clients, typically technology companies. Our team has over 20 collective years of experience in the nonprofit and education sectors, and we felt strongly that our thesis project should reflect our interest in social impact. We developed a map of after-school programs in the Gauteng province of South Africa, researched effective after-school programming methods and recommended strategies to build the sector and reach more youth in the country.

Changing the Rules of Inclusion: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Anna Goldberg

By Carly Milne

Growing up, Anna Goldberg (’18) often heard her parents say, “Fair is not the same.” As she grew to adulthood, the phrase became a driving force behind her efforts to push for greater equality and equity across society.

“I want to build meaningful relationships that cultivate cultures and systems where everyone can flourish,” says Goldberg, who is the president of Anderson’s Women’s Business Connection. “I will always strive to create more equity for others; but being a white person with privilege, you can create access more easily than others who haven’t had that privilege.”

As one of four UCLA Anderson students awarded a 2017 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship, it may come as no surprise that Goldberg comes from a line of social activists. Her grandfather, for example, protested alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and was arrested with him. Like the civil rights leader, Goldberg’s grandfather died too young, but his influence on her family remained; when she was just 14, she traveled to Uganda with her mother and grandmother to volunteer for several weeks at a Jewish community village.

Microsoft Chairman John W. Thompson Talks Tech Trends, Business Strategy, More

“I don’t think anybody knows what the industry will look like in five years because every eight or ten years there’s an inflection point,” John W. Thompson, chairman of Microsoft Corporation, said when asked how the company’s business will evolve in the next few years. “There’s a pattern of change and it’s difficult to predict.”

Thompson, a Silicon Valley icon who succeeded Bill Gates as chairman of Microsoft in 2014, joined UCLA Anderson Dean Judy Olian in a wide-ranging conversation Monday before a capacity crowd in Anderson’s Korn Convocation Hall. The event was part of the school’s Robertson Lecture Series on Global Business Leadership, which provides students, staff, faculty and others the opportunity to hear top business leaders discuss issues that affect global business and the political economy. The lecture series is made possible by Chip Robertson (FEMBA ’06) and his family in conjunction with UCLA Anderson's Center for Global Management.

With Olian guiding the hour-long conversation, Thompson touched on a variety of topics. While declining to predict what Microsoft will be like in five years, he did say the company would be guided by three core principles. First, he said, the company would focus on personal computing with a goal of making it easier for people to interact with technology. Second, Microsoft will look to help users become more productive through business enterprise software such as Office and Word. It’s in this realm that Thompson believes many users will feel the effects of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“The third one is obviously the cloud,” Thompson said, noting that in 2014 Microsoft pivoted from protecting its Windows operating system and began shifting emphasis towards the cloud.

Viewing Leadership as Service: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Evan Barnes

By Carly Milne

Evan Barnes (EMBA ’18) has weathered many storms, but he didn’t do it alone — and the support that got him through his toughest times informs not only his studies, but his future as a UCLA Anderson Executive MBA graduate.

“In the military, we view leadership as service,” Barnes says. “It boils down to showing care and compassion to the members of your team. It comes from building a relationship with the team, and that’s building leadership. Leadership has to be derived from your courage, care, compassion and trust to build that unbreakable bond with your team.”

It’s this values-driven leadership that led to Barnes’ selection as a 2017 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow.

Marion Anderson Hall: A Link to the Past, a Bridge to the Future

Left to right: Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne, Jr., Sam Tang (’87), Donald Morrison, Sherie Morrison, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, Dean Judy Olian, Bob Wilson (B.S. ’53), Lindsey Serrano, Luis Serrano (’02), Heather Hasso

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View a full album of photographs from the Marion Anderson Hall groundbreaking ceremony

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UCLA Anderson’s vision for Marion Anderson Hall, named for the school’s beloved benefactor, embodies the institution’s blueprint for the future. On October 19, Dean Judy Olian and Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne, Jr., along with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Marion Anderson Hall donors Sam Tang (’87), Donald and Sherie Morrison, Bob Wilson (B.S. ’53), Luis (’02) and Lindsey Serrano, and Heather Hasso, drew shovels to break ground on the building site.

Chancellor Block remarked, “The Anderson legacy is everywhere when you look around the university.” In May 2015, Marion donated an unprecedented gift of $100 million to fund research and fellowships, with $40 million earmarked for the state-of-the-art building that bears her name.

How One UCLA Anderson Alumna Endeavored to Build Hispanic Leadership

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National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 through October 15. UCLA Anderson, in conjunction with the Anderson Latino Management Association and the UCLA campus, recognizes the significant contributions to society among our Latino and Hispanic students, alumni, staff and faculty. Visit [email protected] to enjoy their stories.

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By Elise Anderson

It started as the Latino Management Students Association at UCLA — a group of about a dozen 1985 MBA graduates of what was then the UCLA Graduate School of Management. They would casually meet “and hang out between classes during the day,” according to Maggie Peña (’85). It was the unofficial, informal way to meet other Latino MBAs.

It wasn’t until a few years after graduation that Peña, the first Latina manager at Paramount Studios, and Henry Hernandez (’85), who was working at a large defense company, noticed something similar in their respective work environments. “There were no people of color at our companies except for those cleaning the offices,” Peña says.

Origins and Outreach

In search of a remedy, Peña and Hernandez reconnected with a number of original LMSA members, hoping to gather some collective thoughts. At the first meeting, only four MBAs attended, including Chris Arranaga (’85), Richard Rey (’85), Peña and Hernandez. “Clearly, we needed to get more people involved, so we reached out to other Latino MBAs in the local area, then nationally, to gather greater strength,” Peña explains.

With a campaign to reach out (mostly by telephone, mail and fax) to other business schools and “anyone willing to share graduate information or databases,” interest in the organization began to take shape. Peña gives credit to Paramount, which allowed her to make copies of material for mailings, and to a number of women who helped to launch the organization, including Jeannine Jaramillo, a USC and Harvard graduate, and Jaramillo’s friend Elizabeth Muñoz from USC.

Mutual Admiration and Close Friendship with Marion Anderson Inspire a Gift from UCLA Professors Don and Sherie Morrison

By Paul Feinberg

When UCLA Professors Don and Sherie Morrison were given the opportunity to honor their friend Marion Anderson with a gift toward the construction of the building that would bear her name, they did not hesitate. As a result of their generosity, Marion Anderson Hall will include the Morrison Family Board Room, named for the two professors and benefactors. The groundbreaking on the hall, the latest addition to the Anderson complex, will take place later this year.

The Morrisons’ decision was born of the close friendship the pair had with both Marion and John Anderson. The two couples were friends for many years before John Anderson passed away in 2011 and Marion just last spring.

“Over the years, she became one of our dearest friends. We just enjoyed spending time with her,” says Don. “We admired her so much. You combine all of this, with me as a professor, Sherie as part of the community and our two daughters with MBAs, and with such great colleagues here, including Dean Judy (Olian) — what else could we do?”

Luis Serrano (’02) Felt Supported While Studying at UCLA Anderson; Now Supports School With Major Gift

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

In 2000, Luis Serrano (’02), whose life and business were comfortably established in his native Spain, matriculated to UCLA Anderson — with every intention of earning his MBA in the U.S. and resuming his career in Europe. But on his first day of class, he found himself in an orientation event sitting next to an outgoing American named May Hasso (’02). Students were each asked to introduce the classmate beside him or her, and Luis fumbled through what he remembers as an earnest introduction in which he complimented May’s beauty.

“I was very wet behind the ears as far as U.S. social conventions,” he confesses. But if his gallantry that day was on the effusive side, it broke the ice for a relationship that led to their marriage in 2003. “You have to be open to what’s in front of you,” he says about his decision to change his life’s plan.

Luis describes May as extremely bright, lively and social. In 2010 they founded the aptly named Sunshine Retirement Living, a boutique management company for senior housing communities, now thriving with 800 employees and 20 locations in eight states across the country. She assumed the helm as CEO, he served as president.

UCLA Anderson Celebrates Commencement 2017, Remembers Marion Anderson

On Friday, June 16, 2017, UCLA honored the graduating Class of 2017 in the full-time, Fully Employed and Executive MBA programs. The ceremony also recognized the accomplishments of and conferred doctoral degrees upon nine Ph.D. students. A highlight of the ceremony was a keynote address from Amgen Chairman and CEO Bob Bradway.

The celebratory event was bittersweet, as the school paid tribute to the late Marion Anderson, who passed away last spring. Anderson and her late husband John were generous benefactors of the institution that bears their name. In 1987, the school officially became the John E. Anderson School of Management at UCLA, when their gift propelled the school toward building its current complex at the north end of the UCLA campus. In 2015, Mrs. Anderson once again made a transformative gift to the institution now known as UCLA Anderson; the school will break ground on the new Marion Anderson Hall later this year.