We are excited to announce that our Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) degree has been recognized as a STEM designated field of study beginning this fall. Students who complete the MPAc degree will now have the opportunity to qualify for an additional two-year STEM extension of theirpost-completion OPT work permission. The Rady School MPAc degree is now one of only 24% of specialized masters programs in the U.S. to earn STEM designation. Our Master of Science in Business Analytics and Master of Finance are also STEM designated programs.
The MPAc program is the Rady School’s newest graduate degree. This program was created with the guidance of world-class faculty to address the evolving educational needs of the accounting industry. With a focus on a personalized career plan and accessible, supportive faculty, the MPAc program at the Rady School is designed to prepare you for an accelerated career in accounting.
We are proud to share that the Rady School is recognized as a Top-Veteran School by U.S. Veterans magazine. The list of schools was compiled from market research, independent research, diversity conference participation and survey responses.
Earlier this month, the Rady School also announced a new partnership with San Diego Military Advisory Council. We will provide research support for the annual Military Economic Impact Report (MEIR), for which associate professor Sally Sadoff will lead a data analysis, supported by a group of Rady School MBA students. The MEIR is an independent annual study to comprehensively quantify the impact of defense-related expenditures on the San Diego region’s economy.
The Rady School is proud to offer benefits to our Veterans, including:
We will waive the application fee current and former members of the military applying to any Rady MBA program. Please contact Graduate Admissions to receive the application fee waiver before submitting your application.
In the Spring and Fall, we offer complimentary GMAT Prep courses to eligible military veterans or active duty personnel.
As part of the Yellow Ribbon Program, we partner with the Veteran’s Administration to fund tuition and fee expenses that exceed the tuition and fee amounts payable under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Our StartR Veteran program is a commitment to provide Veterans with entrepreneurial programs, resulting in greater confidence and increased skills as they transition into the civilian world. The program utilizes a “Veterans helping Veterans” approach, providing participants with inspiration, support and mentoring throughout the 10 session program.
The Rady School’s small size means that our career management center can provide individualized attention as you assess your strengths and explore the career path that is right for you.
Hear from Rady Veteran alumni about their experience:
“Being accepted to Rady was a life-changing experience and really solidified the transition plan I had from the Military to the civilian world.” – Robert Sweetman II (MBA ’19)
“Being a former counterintelligence agent, I’m very inquisitive. I’m always asking questions and I always want to understand what makes things work and why. When I was able to see the touchpoints that the Rady program has relative towards healthcare, technology, broader sciences and business, [it was clear that] they don’t just you these individual disciplines. They teach you how to blend them all together in order to actually make it function. That’s what the Rady experience was for me. That was the most valuable thing they gave me: to take a dream and turn it into reality.” – Clay Treska (MBA ’19)
Rady School Recognized as a ‘Top Veteran-Friendly School’ was last modified: June 23rd, 2020 by Camille Cannon
Teigan MacDonald was working on her application to the Rady School’s full-time MBA program while sitting in a hotel hallway in Fall 2018. She had traveled to Marietta, GA, to compete with her rugby club, the San Diego Surfers, in the Women’s Premier League National Championship. Teigan scored the first try of the match (like football’s touchdown) and the Surfers defeated the Glendale Merlins 34-28. That championship marked the second of three in Teigan’s rugby career, and the beginning of her new career.
Born and raised in Modesto, CA, Teigan earned a B.S. in biology and minor in economics from UC San Diego. When she began her undergraduate studies, she thought she might like to work in a bioengineering lab. “I took my first lab class and I absolutely hated it,” she says. “I hated not having windows and not being able to talk to people. It’s a very individualized experience.” Having spent most of her life playing–and thriving–in team sports, Teigan realized that the lab environment wasn’t for her.
Inspired by family members who’d studied economics, Teigan began taking coursework that blended her interests, such as economics of the environment and economics of healthcare. “I loved that you could take a class [on these subjects] and apply business concepts to them,” says Teigan. She’d found her niche. Before she graduated, Teigan’s dad, a stock broker, recommended that she take a personal finance class, one of the Rady School’s undergraduate offerings.
“I remember walking into Wells Fargo Hall and thinking, ‘Why have I not been here the whole time?’” Teigan says. “‘Whatever I need to do, I want to [study] here.” she says. “I was able to meet Joe Pecore, a great instructor. I went to his office hours and he really helped me figure out what I wanted to do and why I should go get an MBA.”
Teigan began the full-time MBA program in Fall 2019. “What I’ve enjoyed the most so far about is the holistic experience I’m getting at a graduate school,” she says. “My undergraduate experience at UC San Diego was great, but I didn’t really have career networking or resume workshops. I wasn’t really close with my classmates because I was in classes with 300 students. When I came to Rady, I thought, ‘Wow, this is more than just going to school. This is building a career.”
This summer, Teigan begins a new role in sales support at ACADIA pharmaceuticals, where she works part-time as a commercial operations analyst. She says that working closely with Rady career advisor Stephanie Sindt earlier this year helped prepare her for a new challenge. “We had internship meetups every week before COVID. It was a great way to crowdsource and work as a group and get Steaphine’s expertise. We would prepare for interviews and work on our cover letters and resumes.”
Ultimately, Teigan says that her dream job is managing sales teams for a biotech or pharmaceutical company. It’s a role that combines the competitiveness she’s fostered throughout her life in sports, the knowledge she’s gaining in her courses, and the collaboration and experience she receives among her peers.
“People forget that you try to interact with people just like you. This program encourages you to work with different people and learn how other people operate and work,” she says.
Teigan says that her favorite Rady experiences so far include her fall marketing class, the career treks organized by the Life Sciences Club to San Diego companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and ResMed, and conversations before and after class with her fellow students. Despite the current challenges and activities on hold–including rugby–due to the pandemic, Teigan remains optimistic about her future.
“When I land an interview or get a chance to talk to a company I’m interested in, I feel like I’ve scored a try, because it’s just one step closer to my goal.”
Meet National Rugby Champion and Full-Time MBA Student Teigan MacDonald was last modified: July 20th, 2020 by Camille Cannon
The Rady School has partnered with the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) to provide research support for SDMAC’s Military Economic Impact Report (MEIR). The MEIR is an independent annual study to comprehensively quantify the impact of defense-related expenditures on the San Diego region’s economy.
“The Rady School is the premier business school in the region with faculty recognized for their research,” said Mark Balmert, SDMAC Executive Director. “We are honored to partner with the Rady School on this important project. The school and Dean Ordóñez have been incredibly supportive and we look forward to continuing this collaborative and strategic partnership.”
On June 18, Dean Ordóñez and UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla are featured guests on an SDMAC webinar. This webinar will discuss the role of the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on UC San Diego and active duty and veteran students.
“At the Rady School, we are committed to our active duty service members and veterans,” said Rady School Dean Lisa Ordóñez. “Our partnership with SDMAC for the MEIR study will deliver a vital, independent look at the military’s impact on our local economy. Our faculty and student analysis of the SDMAC data provides clarity to local, state, and national elected officials who use the report to demonstrate the importance of the military on our region.”
Associate Professor Sally Sadoff
Sally Sadoff, an associate professor of economics and strategic management, will lead the analysis of the data provided by SDMAC, supported by a group of Rady School MBA students. The report will examine the economic impact of San Diego’s military cluster on jobs, income, direct spending, supply chain, and consumption. The report will also provide analysis of military personnel counts and wages and benefits for military branches, reserves, retirees, and the VA.
Once completed, the results of the report will be shared with the community via a press conference and distributed to key groups. The report will also be available online at SDMAC.org.
In addition to the Rady School’s partnership with SDMAC, the school offers unique programs to support service members and veterans, like the StartR Veteran accelerator program, which offers mentorship, support, and inspiration from other veteran entrepreneurs. For more information on the school’s support for service members and veterans, go to: https://rady.ucsd.edu/programs/masters-programs/mba/military/
Rady School Partners with SDMAC for Military Economic Impact Report & Webinar was last modified: June 16th, 2020 by Rady School
We all have
been deeply troubled by the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George
Floyd, and the ensuing protests around the country and the world. The Rady
School extends our heartfelt sympathies to their families as we recognize that
no amount is enough to lessen their grief or sense of loss. As a
grandchild of Mexican immigrants, the wife of an African American man, and the
mother of two African American sons, these events hit very close to home for
me, as I know they did for many of you. Even more troubling is the fact that
this type of violence against our fellow Americans of color is still both
pervasive and persistent in our country. We offer our sympathy to all
African Americans who are deeply and personally impacted by these deaths, and
acknowledge that we all suffer as a country when our people are injured.
The disturbing
video of Mr. Floyd shows several nearby police officers who did not step in to
ensure his safety. Social psychologists call this the bystander effect,
where individuals are less likely to offer help when others are present.
My hope as we pave a path forward is that we all stop being bystanders.
(For more information on UC San Diego bystander training, follow this link). We cannot heal and move forward if we
ignore the differences in treatment between our economic classes and races, and
the impact of that difference within our global community. Protests that
destroy property or put lives in jeopardy are not viable solutions; in
addition, our collective experience of the current pandemic makes these large
gatherings particularly unsafe at a time when our community is exhausted.
Thoughtful
discussion and commentary as a reaction to injustice, however, helps to focus
our attention and can be a catalyst for positive change. This is
precisely the value of public education, which assures access for a diverse
group of students who come from many different countries and backgrounds. At
Rady, we understand the value of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and we
are committed to enhancing the diversity of our viewpoints and quality of our
options. We have already formed an EDI subcommittee intended to inform
our new strategic plan. In order to make our organizations stronger and
more inclusive, we will develop initiatives that harness the knowledge from EDI
research (see this Scientific American article for
examples). I encourage everyone within the Rady community to expand your
relationships beyond your natural network, and to actively seek understanding
with others at work and at home. Let’s use our shared values of knowledge and
education to ask the questions and seek the answers that will take us
forward.
We are proud
that our UC San Diego leaders also denounce these events and propose future
community conversations to provide opportunities for healing (UC San Diego statement). For
faculty, students and staff needing additional support, please see the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program and CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services). I
encourage you to participate in activities that will not only help you process
what is happening, but also help you contribute to solutions. When
the current unrest has subsided, it is important in the long-term to take
concrete actions to heal these long-standing wounds and social
issues.
We heal and
grow stronger when we work together.
Lisa D. Ordóñez, Ph.D.
Dean, Rady School of Management
Stanley and Pauline Foster Endowed Chair
A Message from Dean Lisa Ordóñez was last modified: June 11th, 2020 by Dean Lisa Ordóñez
As the coronavirus continues to affect our public health and
economy, the pandemic has reintroduced words into our everyday vocabulary. What
does it mean to be “essential”? On what industries do we depend when so much
around us shuts down?
The first-ever virtual Rady Executive Breakfast Series will feature Hector Lujan, CEO of Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC), the world’s largest multi-berry producer. On May 21st from 8-9 a.m., Lujan will speak about his experience navigating the pandemic in the agricultural industry. RAC is an exclusive grower of Driscoll’s varieties of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries across the United States, Baja California, Central Mexico, Portugal, Morocco and Peru.
Lujan, who holds a degree in business administration from Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México, has worked for RAC since 2002, and served as CEO since 2017. He previously worked four years with a Mexican financial institution and six years in the agricultural sector. Earlier this year, Lujan was named one of the most influential people from Mexico by Lideres Mexicanos, a business and leadership magazine.
RSVP to attend the Rady Executive Breakfast Series here.
The Rady Executive Breakfast Series is sponsored by Union Bank.
Rady Executive Breakfast Series Continues Virtually with Hector Lujan, CEO of Reiter Affiliated Companies was last modified: May 19th, 2020 by Camille Cannon
Since its founding in 2013, the StartR non-profit accelerator program has provided resources, mentoring and access to funding opportunities to more than 190 teams. The program is offered in five tracks—Rady, Inclusion, Impact, Veteran and Teen, each providing unique opportunities to learn from experts and receive guidance for building a sustainable business. In total, companies that have participated in StartR have gone on to raise 118 million dollars.
Traditionally, twice a year, StartR teams have the opportunity to pitch their startups in front of the San Diego business community at a live event called StartR Demo Day. While the event will not occur in-person due to social distancing guidelines, the show will go on May 13th in a virtual format, as ten teams present to potential investors and contacts, and two of the teams will be awarded a $500 prize by a panel of judges.
Get familiar with the StartR teams below, and RSVP to attend Demo Day here.
The Bioenergy Project enables universities, restaurants, and individuals to convert the nutrients in food waste into usable products such as biogas energy and food. A prototype has been running since June 2018 and has mitigated over 23,000 pounds of campus food waste. The Bioenergy Project was the recipient of the 2019 Lemelson MIT Student Prize. (StartR Impact)
Brilliant Biome offers a personalized microbiome approach to drug addiction and recovery. (StartR Rady)
Dietary Microbe Detection (DMD) of DMD Flower explores and provides innovative, rapid and accurate detection of microbes to ensure food safety and quality. (StartR Rady)
The Helper Monkie is an assistive auditory device designed to help children diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) to succeed in traditional classroom environments. (StartR Impact and StartR Inclusion)
H3 Heroes Helping Heroes is a social enterprise that supports veterans, first responders and their families with programming and resources to improve mental health and wellness. (StartR Impact)
Latina Grad Guide seeks to “close the academic achievement gap of Latinas in the U.S.” via workshops, conferences, digital campaigns and an app to assist with graduate school applications. (StartR Impactand StartR Inclusion)
Padfoot creates pet innovative products “that don’t exist, but should.” (StartR Rady)
Sav-E shows shoppers the environmental impact of products through an app, website and browser extension. “We believe that awareness is the key to change, and our goal is to give people that awareness. Doing so will prompt people to think critically about what, how, and why they buy what they buy, allowing them to make shopping decisions that help their wallet and help the planet.” (StartR Impact)
Tebra is working to produce a new type of key lockbox for surfers and outdoor enthusiats. (StartR Rady)
Viberent.co is developing a color-changing fabric to help reduce the excess inventory and waste by fashion retailers. (StartR Inclusion)
Meet the Teams of StartR Demo Day Spring 2020 was last modified: May 11th, 2020 by Rady School
Over the past couple of months, the world has experienced changes, challenges and grief like we have never known. Each day brings with it new hurdles to overcome, but also new reasons to be hopeful.
The UC San Diego community is working tirelessly to find solutions to the obstacles we face as a result of the the pandemic. From critical research to combat COVID-19 to making masks for healthcare workers, we are proud to witness inspiring acts of resilience and care.
In recognition of the ways the community has shown care during crisis, and to support these efforts as the crisis continues, UC San Diego has organized u.Care, a “Day of Caring” from 6 a.m. on May 14-2 p.m. on May 15. During these 32 hours, our UC San Diego community is encouraged to share inspiring stories, and, if you are able, donate a gift of any amount to make a difference.
We are so proud of the many Rady School alumni, partners, staff, students, and faculty who have found ways to support others in this difficult time. We have shared several of these inspiring stories below:
You can also dedicate your gift to UC San Diego’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund and participate in a $350,000 match thanks to a generous challenge grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation.
Richard Castle (FlexWeekend MBA ’13), the co-founder and president of Cloudbeds, a hospitality management software, launched the #HospitalityHelps initiative. The online platform facilitates connections between hotel properties that want to make their beds available to healthcare agencies, organizations or individuals who need them. Within a few days, the more than 1.2 million beds had been pledged at HospitalityHelps.org.
Alumni working at the Scripps Research Institute are conducting a study to improve the real-time surveillance of contagious respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 using data from smartwatches and activity trackers. Through the app-based DETECT study, Katie Baca-Motes (MBA ’09 and Director of the All of Us research project), Royan Kamyar (MBA ’10, physician and CEO and founder of Owaves app) and project manager and incoming MBA FlexWeekend student Lauren Ariniello, along with their colleagues, are crowdsourcing anonymized data across the United States.
“By evaluating individual changes to
heart rate, sleep and activity patterns, as well as logged respiratory symptoms
and diagnostics test results, the Scripps’ team hopes to complement traditional
public health surveillance methods, potentially leading to earlier detection
and containment of current and future outbreaks in various geographical
locations,” said Baca-Motes.
Three MBA 2021 students have organized a GoFundMe campaign to manufacture and distribute 3D-printed mask kits. Since organizing the campaign in early April, Amir Hassan and Nicholas DiGirolamo (MBA ’21) and Mark Schultzel (FlexWeeend MBA ’21) have delivered more than 500 face mask kits to local organizations in need.
Snehanshu Tiwari, Vishnu Sharon R. and Sakshi Sharma (MSBA ’18) contacted Professor Ken Wilbur to offer their help reviewing resumes, preparing for interviews or make introductions for current MSBA students graduating this summer. When Professor Wilbur shared this update on LinkedIn, even more alumni offered to help!
Sean Haggerty (FlexWeekend MBA ’17), founder of Protector Brewery, made curbside pickup and delivery available, in addition to offering the brewery’s supply of filtered water available to those in need. Protector Brewery has pledged to donate $1 from each order to Team Rubicon, a non-profit organization supporting veterans impacted by COVID-19.
Grace Evans Cherashore, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and Executive Chairwoman of Evans Hotels, is leading an effort to make hotel rooms open and available to healthcare workers. Medical workers who present ID at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Catamaran and Bahia Resort Hotels are eligible to receive a discount of more than 50%. “The medical workers want to be in this fight as long as they can and a hotel allows them to be isolated,” Bill Evans, co-owner of Evans Hotel told 10 News. The Evans family has been a generous partner to the Rady School.
Jaden Risner and Clay Treska (FlexWeekend MBA ’19) founded Family Proud an app to help patients and their caregivers and loved ones manage their care, while they were students at the Rady School. In Spring 2020, the Family Proud platform was updated to include resources and support for those affected by COVID-19.
Steve Prestrelski (FlexWeekend MBA ’06) is the founder and chief scientific officer of Xeris Pharmaceuticals, which is offering its GVOKE Pre-Filled Syringe—an injectable treatment for diabetes patients who experience severe hypoglycemia—for $0 copay through May 31st.
The team at Indigo Marketing Agency, founded by Claire Akin (MBA ’10). prepared a list of tips for working from home. “Indigo Marketing Agency is a company run almost completely virtually by mothers of young children,” said Akin. “We saw so many of our clients struggling to adapt, so we wanted to offer our tips and tricks for working at home (even with small children) … I believe that we are helping our team members support their families and spend time with their children. It’s the best of both worlds and it provides a highly fulfilling lifestyle!”
Rady Alumni Board president Josh Kuss is the Senior Director of Commercial Strategy at Illumina and the commercial lead for the company’s San Diego Emergency Management Team. The team has been working since March “defining and implementing the strategies for how we keep Illumina’s employees safe, while ensuring supply to our customers, many of which are on the front line of SARS-COV-2/COVID19 research, tracing, and treatment. We tackled how to transition to work from home, and are now in the process of determining a sound return to work strategy,” said Kuss.
Academic Assessment Senior Analyst Christine McMahan volunteers with a national organization that has provided 100,000 masks for front-line workers. McMahan also offered to sew masks for Rady School staff and faculty in need. She made 65 in total, sewing every evening until she ran out of supplies.
Krithi Bindal (MBA ’17) is the founder and president of Aroga Biosciences, a regulatory writing biopharma firm which has been donating their scientific expertise to peer-review pre-print literature related to COVID-19 research.
“We are in a period of information overload,” said Bindal. “Misinformation about COVID-19, especially information lacking scientific rigor, can lead to significant risk to the public. I feel it is our duty as scientists to ensure effective communication and to help delineate scientific factual results from fiction. After all, our job as scientists is to find the truth.”
“The name of our company Aroga is based on the sanskrit term ‘arogya”, which means free of disease. We hope to continue to contribute to freeing the world of disease as we help to develop treatments for ailing patients. As we navigate these challenging times, our mission is unchanged and is stronger than ever.”
Sara Jones (Flex Weekend ’13) is the CEO of Plum Blossom Creations. She is offering free workshops on The Big Four of Mental Toughness.
“As an Unbeatable Mind student, I learned first-hand the power of the Big 4 of Mental Toughness in my fight against Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I used the Big 4 to feed my Courage Wolf, stare down my fears and thrive through the health crisis that threatened my life…
As lives were disrupted by homeschooling, layoffs, new routines and all the rest, I wanted to do what I could to help. As an Unbeatable Mind Coach, I had access to the four habits, tried and tested by warriors for 1000s of years, made simple and doable by Mark Divine, retired Navy SEAL through the Unbeatable Mind Academy. And I wanted to share those tools with others.”
To learn more about the Big Four of Mental Toughness, connect with Sara by email sara.jones@unbeatablemind.com or onLinkedIn. To sign up for coaching, visit https://bit.ly/UMCoachingwithSaraJones.
More ways in which the UC San Diego community is responding to COVID-19:
Medical school researchers launched “MyWellnessCheck,” an online platform to help identify how certain attitudes and behaviors may help increase well-being during a crisis.
UC San Diego Health is offering virtual appointments for people that have tested positive for COVID-19 but don’t require hospital care
UC San Diego physician-scientist Dr. Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, along with a team of researchers, built a rapid response platform to connect clinicians with answers to COVID-19 questions, resources and potential solutions to the challenges they face.
Read more about UC San Diego’s response to COVID-19 here.
Are you a member of the Rady School community who would like to share a story of care? Please fill out this form or email cacannon@ucsd.edu.
How the Rady Community Is Showing Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic was last modified: July 16th, 2020 by Camille Cannon
A message from the Rady School of Management Development Team:
We believe that generosity has the power to unite and heal
communities in good times and bad. A global threat like COVID-19 touches every
person on the planet, and it presents an opportunity to come together as a
global community.
#GivingTuesdayNow is a new global day of giving and unity
that takes place on May 5, 2020 (in addition to the regularly scheduled December
1, 2020 #GivingTuesday) as an emergency response to the unprecedented need
caused by COVID-19.
If you are in a position to give and had plans to
participate in this universal movement, we invite you to join the Rady School
of Management in creating a wave of generosity, community engagement, action
from individuals, businesses and philanthropy, and support our student
community that needs it most.
As UC San Diego mobilizes a holistic response to the challenges
of the coronavirus, we are more aware than ever before that our students rely
on us for far more than their education. By making a gift to the Rady
School of Management Innovation Fund, you can help us protect the academic
and financial needs of our students, and provide compassion and care that
reminds them that we are all in this together.
We also encourage you to join us for UC San Diego’s Day of Caring, u.care, May 14 and 15, 2020 and share stories of care with your community using #UCSDCares and #RadyCares.
Ways to Support Rady School Students on #GivingTuesdayNow and Beyond was last modified: May 5th, 2020 by Rady School
Teams of students from the Rady School Master of Finance program placed first and third at the 2020 Chicago Quantitative Alliance Investment Challenge!
From October 2019-March 2020, the students managed a portfolio
with the goal of achieving the best risk-adjusted performance. “As we all know, this has been a very challenging time
for equity investing and our teams did a great job,” said MFin Executive Director
Michael Melvin, who served as the teams’ faculty advisor.
The teams scores were based 80% on risk-adjusted performance
and 20% on a ten-minute video presentation about their investment strategy. The
Rady MFin teams were mentored by CQA member Tom Anichini of Guided Choice.
Rady MFin Students Win First and Third Place in CQA Investment Challenge was last modified: April 28th, 2020 by Rady School
