UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

Congratulations to UCLA Anderson’s Class of 2018 Academic Awards Recipients

UCLA Anderson Academic Awards Dinner, June 7, 2018

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Congratulations, UCLA Anderson Class of 2018!

The Anderson community acknowledges your dedication and academic achievements:

 

GLORIA APPEL PRIZE

The Gloria Appel Prize is given annually to graduating MBA students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in entrepreneurial studies and student leadership. The full-time MBA students who received this award excelled in three or more entrepreneurial electives, while also taking on leadership roles at Anderson.

Lior Bartov, Steven Coen, Victor Gebhardt, Alison McCarty, Jared Riemer

 

OUTSTANDING STUDENT IN STRATEGY

Candidates with superior academic achievement in strategy and policy are recommended and chosen by UCLA Anderson policy and strategy faculty. Factors entering into the selection decision include the students’ revealed preference for strategy and consulting as well their excellence as a TA and their potential academic research contributions.

James Gische, Christopher O’Connor

 

Ready, Set, Re-LAUNCH

By Elise Anderson

It started as an observation by two alumnae, Cynthy Moffatt (’88) and Anderson Board of Advisors member Beth Friedman (’87), at a lunch with Dean Judy Olian about two years ago. Both Moffatt and Friedman had, for various reasons, spent time away from the workforce after graduating from UCLA Anderson. Their question: How many other female alumni had the same out-of-work experience and what type of assistance might be available to help those who desired to relaunch their careers?

Their inquiry sparked Anderson’s Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) to initiate a new effort they called Career Re-LAUNCH. It’s geared toward UCLA Anderson alumnae who have been out of the traditional full-time workforce for more than five years and are ready to explore career opportunities and gain knowledge of current business insights and practices in preparation for re-entry into the workforce. OAR focused on providing a program that would offer guidance, training and resources for alumnae who were not only eager to return to work, but might “want to do something that provides more personal fulfillment,” according to Mia Dolak (’96), who had left the corporate environment and has been pursuing part-time consulting work while raising two sons.

Seeking Truth: Nike Irvin Answers the Call to Action

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By Carolyn Gray Anderson

Woman Worth Watching … Philanthropist of the Year … Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow … Inspirational 100 Alumna …

These are a few of Nike Irvin’s (’89) distinctions, all earned in recognition of more than 20 years of nonprofit leadership, board service and private-sector brand management.

When Irvin walks into a room, she attracts the people in it with a palpable and open calm. Speaking in a quiet voice about such loud topics as poverty, social injustice, equality in higher education, Irvin exudes compassion and introspection. She served as vice president of programs at the California Community Foundation for six years, becoming a donor to CCF herself and establishing a fund to make her own grants to nonprofits. But she recently resigned to shift her attention to consulting and research. “I’m in a mindfulness mode,” she told a UCLA Anderson High Impact Tea audience. “A confluence of things going on encouraged me to slow down.”

But that doesn’t minimize the urgency behind the causes she champions. She devotes her time now to researching, compiling and drafting an intentional model for truth and reconciliation efforts in the U.S. In collaboration with fellow Aspen Institute thought leaders and scholars, as well as a diverse crew of professionals in academia and business, Irvin looks as far afield as the Solomon Islands for practices that have achieved reparations on a par with South Africa’s, and that might be emulated here at home.

“We’re in a moment of growing transparency,” she said. “Don’t you feel a sea change?”

Military Precision Led to a Dynamic Career in Business

By Jill Hisey (’95)

Both of Jarred Herman’s (’14) grandfathers served in the military, which influenced him to set his sights on joining the U.S. Navy. But one of his grandfathers convinced him to get his college degree first, and then, if he was still interested, he could enter the Navy as an officer.

Heeding this advice, Herman, who grew up in Nevada City, California, attended University of Nevada, Reno, majoring in math. After graduating he knew he wanted to join the submarine corps and determined that becoming a nuclear engineer would offer a perfect mix of science and military service. But first he would attend Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, followed by six months at the Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina — which he says entailed an intense academic program — and six months at the Ballston Spa NPTU Prototype in Saratoga Springs, New York. Finally, Herman spent six months in submarine school in Connecticut. All told, he spent 1½ years in training before reporting for duty.

From Graduation to Head of Global Diversity at Mattel in Just Two Short Years

Jessica Kimball (’15) was recently named head of global diversity at Mattel, after working with the legendary company for just two years. Alumna Bhavna Sivanand (’14), UCLA Anderson’s director of Impact@Anderson, caught up with her to learn more about her promotion.

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Q: First and foremost, congratulations! We should know a bit about where you come from. What is your background?

Thank you, Bhavna. The core tenets of diversity and inclusion have always been important to me and, whether I was aware of it or not, I have always worked to help level the playing field, giving those from underrepresented backgrounds a better chance of achieving their goals. Between graduating from Yale and attending UCLA Anderson, I ran my own college admissions consulting company, helping students prepare for and apply to college. My students came from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds, and within those five years we helped students throughout America, as well as from international locales such as Spain, Turkey and Hong Kong. What I loved most about that experience was helping my students grow, not just as students, but as young and driven changemakers.

Q: You were a star leader while you were at Anderson. You created the Anderson Student Association position VP of diversity and inclusion. What were some of your most meaningful experiences at Anderson?

My favorite part about Anderson was meeting so many amazing people! My classmates were all so brilliant and inspiring, and I felt that the best way I could contribute to Anderson was by serving my classmates however I could. It was an honor to be chosen as first-year Section B president (shout-out to the BEST SECTION EVER!).

Job Sharing in Military Support? U.S. Air Force Veteran Kristina Iskander Wants to Make It Fly

See a full gallery of photos from UCLA Anderson's 2017 Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans

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By Carly Milne

As a captain in the U.S. Air Force for nearly eight years, Kristina Iskander became acutely aware of two things: one, many baby boomers were retiring from the work force, which meant there was a need for highly skilled and well-trained military support personnel to take their place; and two, if non-active-duty military employees with families were allowed a more flexible schedule, they could fill those open positions — and excel in the workforce in a whole new way.

“Although the military is making great strides — the U.S. Air Force has the highest percentage of females — it’s still a male-dominated profession,” Iskander says. “I want to provide more support to the military, and to the women who want to enter and remain part of this important work. Many women feel they have to choose between having children and working, and even if they choose work after children, they feel pressured to be on maternity leave for the shortest amount of time possible. I want to change that.”

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.

Congratulations to UCLA Anderson’s Class of 2017 Academic Awards Recipients

Enjoy the full gallery of photos of UCLA Anderson's 2017 Academic Awards event

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Congratulations, UCLA Anderson Class of 2017!

The Anderson community acknowledges your dedication and academic achievements:

EDWARD W. CARTER FELLOWS
Edward W. Carter Fellows represent the highest level of academic achievement in the MBA program. The single requirement to qualify is daunting in its simplicity: earn a grade point average in the top 2% of the class within five quarters of study. The award is named after a pioneer Bruin, a 1932 economics alumnus whose graduation coincided with UCLA’s fifth anniversary on the Westwood campus. Although Mr. Carter is best known as the founder of The Broadway, and later rose to chairman of the parent company Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc., we celebrate his legacy as one of UCLA’s brightest stars and staunchest supporters.

MBA Program: Akshay A. Dixit, Anthony D. Edwards, Benjamin R. Field, Jason S. Finkelstein, Daniel Q. Gates, Katrina E. Kurnit, Joseph Robie

 

HAROLD M. WILLIAMS FELLOWS
Harold M. Williams Fellows represent the highest level of academic achievement in the Fully Employed MBA program. The single requirement to qualify is earn a grade point average in the top 2% of the class over 10 quarters of study. The award is named after the maverick Bruin and 1946 alumnus who returned to the UCLA campus 23 years later as professor and dean of the Graduate School of Management. Under Mr. Williams’ tenure, UCLA GSM rose into the ranks of the top 10 business schools in the country and the only public school on the list at the time. Although Mr. Williams is best known for his role as the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, we celebrate his legacy as one of UCLA’s brightest stars and staunchest supporters.

FEMBA Program: Nishant Bhargava, Ethan S. Held, Elizabeth M. Kernion, Beracah B. Stortvedt, Sachin R. Thadani, David Yiyang Zhou

 

Unhappiness Should Never Be a Way of Life

By Sana Rahim (FEMBA ’19)

When you graduate from college wide-eyed and ready to take on the world, no one ever tells you that one day your career choices will be dictated by a mortgage or daycare payments. Whether we realize it or not, at some point in our lives we are forced to make decisions about our priorities, and sometimes career fulfillment is put at the bottom of the list. We are forced to choose between work that matters to us and work that will pay us what we need to survive. A dream career is not only hard to find, but sometimes it’s simply not feasible.

From a young age, we are taught to follow our dreams and pursue our passions. We are not taught, however, that sometimes our dreams will be put on hold to support our parents, to pay off our student debt or to prepare for future plans of buying a home or bringing a child into the world. Sometimes it feels impossible to find a job that is able to support your financial goals as well as your intellectual and emotional needs for growth and fulfillment.

Center for MEMES’ Jay Tucker: Relentless Problem Solver, Unrepentant Optimist

 

Jay Tucker (’09) is the new executive director of UCLA Anderson’s Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment & Sports. He graduated from Anderson in 2009 and embarked on a career with a certain local competitor school, where, as CMO of the Institute for Communication Technology Management at USC and founder of the Silicon Beach initiative there, he led an interdisciplinary team to launch a $50,000 venture competition combined with a conference focused on innovation, emerging technologies, tech startups and digital entertainment. It’s early days, but Tucker has had his finger firmly on the MEMES pulse (presiding, in fact, over the 2017 Pulse Entertainment, Sports & Technology Conference). He is busy preparing for NextFest, the collaborative cross-disciplinary event with FuturizeX UCLA on March 2.

 

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Q: What in your educational or personal background led you to your current professional interests?

I’ve always had a passion for entertainment and its impact on popular culture, and even taught courses on media literacy before attending business school. My interest in the business of entertainment grew over time as I saw a rapid increase in franchises jumping from publishing to feature films, video games, TV series and other platforms. One of the essential questions I had at the time was whether quality alone was enough to ensure business success for content — in other words, is content really king? Another was the converse: Could exceptional business operations be a substitute for amazing content?

These days, it’s clear that my questions were far less important than the question of how Hollywood would harness innovation and disruptive technologies to delight audiences and finance the next wave of storytelling. But the drive to understand the industry, and the business of storytelling, were a big part of what compelled me to come to UCLA Anderson.

Q: Before starting your MBA, you worked in a range of marketing, tech and educational roles. How did earning your degree enhance or influence the direction of your career in the years to follow?

At Anderson I had the opportunity to connect with industry leaders in film, video games and more. One advantage I brought to the table was deep experience as a technology leader and as a Web developer in the early days of the commercial internet. My time at Anderson coincided with the rise of a number of digital and social media platforms, and some of the business leaders in Hollywood were interested in my perspectives on how technology would impact the industry.