Program's inaugural Denver class visits St. Louis
The 43rd Executive MBA class of Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis gathered at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education and Conference Center in mid-September to kick off its academic year with Go! Week orientation. This was the first time students from the new Denver EMBA program visited St. Louis. Go! Week also included a special celebration of the 30th anniversary of Olin’s EMBA program.
The 43rd Executive MBA class of Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis gathered on campus last month to kick off its academic year with Go! Week. The meeting, at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education and Conference Center, was the first time the cohort of students from the new Denver EMBA program was in St. Louis.
“Go! Week was a real roller-coaster ride for me,” said Julie Thiessen, senior manager of process improvement at Harris Broadcast Communications in Englewood, Colo.
“It launched super-fast out of the gate, had its ups and downs, threw me for a loop and ultimately was the ride of my life,” she said.
Thiessen is one of 14 students in the inaugural Denver cohort, who joined 38 other EMBA students in the St. Louis cohort for Go! Week orientation.
Go! Week also included a special celebration of the 30th anniversary of Olin’s Executive MBA program.
The program, which has expanded beyond St. Louis to Shanghai, Kansas City and now Denver, shared the milestone celebration with all current Executive MBA classes and alumni of the EMBA program during an event Sept. 20.
“I chose the Olin program because of the transformative nature of the curriculum, the focus on leadership, the cutting-edge research and the excitement of being part of the inaugural Denver cohort,” Thiessen said. “Everything I had heard and read about the program has been phenomenal and really left no other viable alternative in my mind.”
Forty-six companies are represented in the 52-member class. Nine members of the class are retired or active military and 25 percent were born outside the United States.
“I’m ready to take my career not only to the next level but beyond it,” said Ron Sparks, vice president of Chan Healthcare in Clayton.
“I was convinced of the program’s excellence and its ability to help me get there by having exposure to several of the professors and other faculty prior to making my decision. Go! Week only served to confirm my decision,” he said.
Maureen McDonald LLC has been engaged to assist Olin’s efforts in the local Denver community.
A WUSTL alumna, McDonald (BA ’81) is a Denver native and is active in that area’s business and civic communities.
“With her work in leadership and corporate business development as executive director of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation for over a decade, Maureen is exceedingly well-positioned to continue developing our Executive MBA program in Denver’s vibrant business community,” said Meg Shuff, assistant dean for Olin Executive MBA Admissions.
For more information on executive education at Olin, visit here.