A LITTLE HELP FROM A PROFESSOR
Looking for versatility? Emlyon’s Ronny Turiaf has gone from winning an NBA Championship with LeBron James to founding Maison Verveau, which he describes as a “sanctuary for creatives, athletes, and leaders to slow down, reflect, and transform.” Brion Randolph has taken a path rarely seen. After earning an MS in Nuclear Engineering, the University of Tennessee MBA pivoted to medical school – and now leads cell and gene therapy at Baptist Memorial Healthcare. Less drastic, Josephina El Sokhon has bounced from engineering to management consulting to private equity in her 10 years before London Business School. Then again, Arief Wana put his finance background to work. He started one of Indonesia’s largest ESG funds. What’s more, he launched the largest independent scholarship provider among Indonesia’s 35 universities for underprivileged children.
“I’m most proud that my role enables me to give back—funding free cataract surgeries for 19,000+ patients and empowering 30,000+ underprivileged students through KSE Foundation,” writes Wana, a graduate of the University of Chicago’s Booth EMBA. “This combination of market leadership and meaningful impact keeps me going.”
Outside work and class, the Best & Brightest stayed busy. At Columbia Business School, Yamicha Stephenson – a lawyer who became a senior manager at Deloitte – was a member of seven student clubs ranging from entrepreneurship to private equity. The University of Maryland’s Cipriana D. Patterson wrote and directed a documentary, When They Speak: Stories of Black Men in America. Over the past seven years, Ashley Landay has raised over a million dollars for cancer research through her SmashCancer team that runs the New York City Marathon. This year, her team broke the seven-figure mark with some unexpected help from the Cornell EMBA program.
“What made it so special is that one of my business school professors, Steve Sauer, ran it with my team. He had been my teacher the first week of school and taught an elective that I took. He dove in to run the marathon, raise money, and support me and my cause.”
WHAT GRADES REALLY MEAN
Christopher Judd, Ohio State (Fisher)
Christopher Judd taps into his expertise as a Chief Technology Officer to support young talent. He volunteers with KidzMash, a series of educational sessions where children learn technical concepts by completing activities like “building light sabers out of bubble wands.” Judd also launched a Manifest Agility Bootcamp, a six-week course to teach computer science graduates what college doesn’t prepare them for in the real world.
“Over 12 years, more than 200 students went through the bootcamp,” explains Judd, who earned his MBA at Ohio State’s Fisher College. “Many have gone on to work at top companies like Google, Microsoft, and AWS, while others have become respected speakers at tech conferences and leaders in their own right. Watching them grow, find their footing, and ultimately excel has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. What began as a way to help new graduates has become a legacy of mentorship, and I take immense pride in the impact it’s had.”
Judd takes equal pride in his academic performance. As a child, he flunked 3rd grade, with his teacher telling his mother that he wasn’t “college material.” Fast forward 40 years and Judd posted a perfect GPA in the MBA – and was named co-valedictorian of his class. While “grades don’t matter in business school” is a common mantra, they symbolized something more profound to Katie Anderson, a general counsel who finished her MBA this May at Arizona State’s W. P. Carey
“Especially in a program that is centered around group work and learning from your peers, my grades are a reflection of my ability to work effectively with others so we can push each other to excel. Ultimately, my GPA is a numerical representation of my connection with my cohort.”
PROGRESS MADE AND LESSONS LEARNED
Florence Turpault-Desroches, McGill-HEC Montreal
That spirit carried forward in other areas of the Best & Brightest’s academic experience. Henrietta Mbeah-Bankas, a health educator who studied at the Cambridge Judge Business School, interviewed Sir Gregory Winter, who won a Nobel Prize in Molecular Biology. At the McGill-HEC Montreal EMBA program, Florence Turpault-Desroches completed a final project on leadership behavior that was so insightful that it fetched a book deal. And let’s just say Kishan Chalumuri experienced some real growth as a Haas EMBA student.
“I started business school not even knowing how to structure a pitch deck. Now, I’m graduating with pre-seed funding for PlaSiV and pilot partnerships with some of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers. Turning classroom frameworks into real-world traction has been the most rewarding part of my MBA journey.”
For the Wharton School’s Lisa Dalik, who heads up HR M&A strategy for a rapidly-growing sports technology firm, the biggest achievement was finding the strength to balance work and school after becoming a new mother.
“Professionally, it helped me to become more focused. It taught me how to devote my time wisely, communicate with clarity, and lead with empathy without compromising on performance. It has influenced how I think about leadership, priorities, and what it really takes to get things done.”
GET LAID OFF? NO PROBLEM
Duygu Gozeler Porchet, University of Oxford (Said)
In a few cases, the return on an EMBA wasn’t just inner strength and intangible know-how. “The company I studied for Financial Accounting was NVIDIA, and a few of us from class decided to actually invest in the companies we were studying,” writes Washington University’s Brendan James Alleyne. “That decision alone paid for my EMBA degree 10x over.”
In the case of Kellogg’s Danny Canary, business school served a lifeline too. “Midway through my program, my role at Ulta Beauty was eliminated during a restructuring. Thanks to the EMBA on my resume and the invaluable support from my executive coach, I quickly secured multiple offers within weeks. The EMBA didn’t just prepare me—it positioned me to navigate a challenging transition successfully.”
This ability to transition – from a practitioner and subject matter expert to big picture strategist and people leader – was often at the heart of why the Best & Brightest chose an Executive MBA program. For Neeraj Govil, the choice boiled down to “real conversations, real connections, and real growth” – being around energetic senior executives who could push him “to think bigger and lead better.” Cipriana D. Patterson sought an environment where faculty could “leverage” students’ lived experience so they could apply lessons in real time. At the same time, Duygu Gozeler Porchet, an entrepreneur from the University of Oxford, just felt there was no substitute for in-person learning. Notably, she found some of the most valuable learning happened over dinner discussions after class.
“Truly, I can’t think of anywhere else at age 40 [where] I could have gained 59 close friends from around the world,” adds Gozeler Porchet. “That’s a truly unique gift of this program.”
A RIGHT TIME TO RETURN TO SCHOOL?
K. Neena Chima, Rutgers Business School
Patrick Garvey, a professor of plastic surgery, admits that there is never a “perfect time” to start business school. In his case, certain elements aligned to free him up to take a leap of faith. And it didn’t hurt that the Rice University Executive MBA program was within walking distance of Garvey’s home too.
“At this stage of my career, I was able to carve out more time from my professional responsibilities, and my teenage children had become more independent. This opened the door for me to fully commit to an in-person experience, which I believed would offer more meaningful opportunities to connect with executive-level classmates.”
Rutgers Business School’s K. Neena Chima, a Dermatology Physician and Clinical Investigator, echoes Garvey’s sentiments. “Earlier, my focus was on raising a family and building a solid clinical practice. When I finally applied, I came in with clarity, lived experience, and purpose – ready to absorb everything!”
THE TRAITS THAT MATTER
An Executive MBA program could be a bit different depending on the school. At BYU’s Marriott School, students visited bi-weekly on weekends. Along with classes, Marriott MBAs completed the springtime Epic Learning Adventure in Moab, an outdoor team-building exercise where they “biked over slickrock, repelled down slot canyons, and navigated through river rapids” according to Michael Scott Peters. At the University of Chicago’s Booth School, MBAs complete quarters in Hong Kong, London, and Chicago, while National University of Singapore students traveled to “Bangkok, Jakarta, Bangalore, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo, [and] Sydney,” says Neeraj Govil.
Still, there often wasn’t a smooth path to an MBA for the Class of 2026. At orientation, Michael Scott Peters still remembers this admonition: “You’ll juggle a lot over the next two years. Some juggling balls are made of rubber and others of glass. Make sure to prioritize the glass.” In the end, it wasn’t necessarily the smartest, most experienced, or best-connected students who made the most of business school, says Georgetown University’s Stephanie Dobitsch.
“The most successful students in our cohort weren’t necessarily those with the most impressive backgrounds, but rather those who planned meticulously, communicated transparently with all stakeholders in their lives, and approached the program with both flexibility and determination.”
Arizona State’s Katie Anderson was even more blunt about what it took. “There wasn’t any trick to getting through this time, it was just pure stubbornness and the support of my loved ones.”
“I COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THEM”
Neeraj Govil, National University of Singapore
How tough did the Class of 2025 need to be to see it through? There were 16-hour work flights, complemented by 6-hour layovers. Sometimes, the Best & Brightest worked out of train cars and hotel lobbies, dragging themselves out of bed at 4 a.m. to get a jump on readings. There was time apart from loved ones – not to mention the maddening exercise of coordinating calendars with spouses and caregivers. Of course, students would murmur, “The timing couldn’t be any worse” as knee surgeries, job relocations, and fading parents upended the best-laid plans. To combat this, Neeraj Govil applied what he calls “ruthless prioritization.”
“Balancing family commitments, work expectations, and education during the EMBA was a real test of discipline and focus,” he admits. “I have a demanding role that necessitates frequent travel across Asia, a family to stay connected with, and a very spirited dog who is always over the moon when I am home. After a long day of meetings overseas, I would often find myself logging into classes late at night (or early in the mornings) from hotel rooms — tired, jetlagged, but determined. It wasn’t always easy, but it taught me that you don’t need perfect conditions to stay committed. The key was being intentional with my time: planning ahead, learning to say “no” to make space for what mattered, and accepting that sometimes ‘good enough’ was better than chasing perfection.”
Alas, the experience – however daunting – also came with silver linings. Xiaoyu Qu, a Ph.D. who oversees a cancer laboratory, earned her MBA at the University of Washington’s Foster. The mother of two teenagers, she saw her children get involved in her schooling.
“My daughter loves to talk with me about my learning. My son competes with me on grades. I remember last summer, my children and I looked at each other and sighed at the same time, because summer was ending and we all had to go back to school.”
At the same time, business school reminded the Class of 2025 what’s truly important. To Josephina El Sokhon, that meant “being present every hour, every minute.” For Todd Wetmore, a Walmart executive who studied at the University of Texas’ McCombs School, the MBA journey reinforced the comforting message that you’re never truly alone.
“This degree isn’t just mine; it’s a reflection of the collective effort of my family, classmates, and colleagues. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Next Page: 68 profiles of this year’s Best & Brightest Executive MBA grads.