From Iraq to Wall Street, New MBA Class Arrives at MIT Sloan

Business Wire, August 25, 2003

Business Editors/Education Writers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 2003

After months of 20-hour work days in which he helped develop and manage logistics operations for all Marine aircraft involved in the Iraq war, former Marine officer Steven Nolen will bring a unique perspective when he begins his studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management this fall. So will Andrew Benzing, who interviewed with MIT Sloan while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

The two veterans are among a diverse class of 354 new MBA students now arriving at MIT Sloan. They come from 46 countries, have previously worked for a total of 305 companies, and include nearly 100 women. And as much as their formal studies, the students are looking forward to learning from each other.

"I think the faculty and my classmates will benefit greatly from my (Marine) experience because the bottom line that I influenced was potentially measured in lives saved or lost," said Nolen, a 31-year-old native of Mission Viejo, CA. Nolen learned of his acceptance to MIT Sloan just three days before boarding his flight to Kuwait. He and Benzing hope their time at MIT Sloan will help them land good management jobs in the civilian sector.

"My exposure to civilian firms is pretty limited," said Benzing, a native of Horse Shoe, North Carolina. "That's something I hope Sloan will help me shore up."

When Benzing and his new colleagues arrive, they will find a redesigned curriculum, the result of a multi-year effort by Sloan to rethink what it teaches - and how it does it.

"We believe that this new curriculum captures what is unique about the MIT Sloan School experience and is a model for what MBA education should be," said Deputy Dean Paul Osterman who is responsible for implementing the reshaping of the MBA program. "This redesign means that students entering this year will have a uniquely exciting experience ahead of them."

Not all MIT Sloan students have such years of past experience. Guenevere Burke of Armonk, NY, for example, is just 20 years old, but she's used to pushing herself academically. She was only 12 when she started attending college part-time and only 18 when she earned her BA in biochemistry. She was interested in medical school, but changed her mind after being exposed to the frustrations and complexities of the health care industry. "At Sloan, my goal is to learn how to be a leader and change the framework of health care, instead of being subjected to it," she said. "I know I'm smart, but I'm seriously lacking in experience. This fall, I'm expecting the most challenging course work I've ever known, with the most intelligent people I've ever encountered. And that's exactly why I'm looking forward to it."

From a totally different background and part of the world, Kamal Quadir has come to Cambridge from his native Bangladesh, to which he hopes to return with his new management skills.

"Business leaders in developing countries increasingly require skills to be able to identify the proper strategies to deliver long-term social benefits to their countries," said Quadir, 31, who moved to the United States to attend college when he was 19. After working in this country for a few years, he returned to Bangladesh, first working for an energy company but eventually founding GlobeKids, a digital animation company in Dhaka. That experience convinced him of the great potential for entrepreneurship in developing countries - but only with the right tools and technology.

"After making GlobeKids a viable business in three and half years, I am convinced that entrepreneurship will eventually move Bangladesh from its current hardship," he said. "My long-term aspiration is to... help developing countries capitalize on their natural comparative advantages with modern technologies. Imagination and leadership can outweigh the lack of natural resources and propel nations ahead."

And Quadir hopes that MIT Sloan can help him further develop such skills. "One of the most important reasons for my decision to attend Sloan is that its program attracts business leaders with a social conscience," he said.