New MIT Sloan Students Expect Presidential Election to Be Felt in Classroom This Fall

Students from 42 nations seek new tools to advance careers and broader goals

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With about 750 MBA and master’s students coming from 42 nations, those entering the MIT Sloan School of Management this fall can add another subject to their usual load of finance, marketing and other classes: the 2012 presidential election, they say, is bound to make it into their campus conversations.

“to pursue a career building and funding early-stage businesses in Africa with the hopes of creating a generation of sustainable businesses that will impact the economic and social development of the continent.”

“I am sure the election will be a regular topic of discussion this fall,” said Warren W. Simmons, a 42-year-old Michigan native. He is entering both MIT Sloan’s Executive MBA (EMBA) program and his sixth year as the Group Vice President of Global Supply Chain Management at Broan-NuTone. “I would expect that many of the discussions will include examples of any effects the current administration’s actions and policies have had on my fellow classmates’ industries and jobs,” he said. “These real-life examples will more than likely include projections as to how these situations will change depending on the outcome of the election.”

With the economy and the U.S. financial system central themes in the current political debate, these MIT Sloan students will be especially attuned to how things play out before and after November. “The presidential election will affect my classroom experiences, my work, and my cohort’s experiences,” said Trinh Nguyen, Chief of Staff at the Boston Housing Authority, who is also enrolling in the EMBA program. “The refinement of tax codes, bipartisanship, areas of budget cuts, and proposed economic plans with austerity measures will impact both private and public sectors,” said the 39-year-old Vietnamese American and South Boston resident. “It will be exciting to learn how it impacts our practices, and challenges us to learn new ways of being and operating.”

“The election also offers special educational value,” notes Tiffany Wetherell, 22, a California native enrolled in the MIT Sloan Master of Finance (MFin) program . “More than anything, the upcoming election is a great way to introduce the international students to U.S. political culture and for me to learn about politics abroad,” she said. “I can’t promise that the conversation won’t get heated, but it’s a great way to connect the dots, toss around new perspectives, and understand finance as one of many moving parts in the political economies across the globe.”

Many members of the new class hope to develop new skills that will help them advance not only their personal careers, but broader economic and social goals. “Even in the midst of today’s economic conditions, I believe that manufacturing is and will always be a key component of the American economy,” said Michael Chun, 27, a Los Angeles resident and West Point graduate whose five-year military service has included tours in Germany and Iraq. “Through the management and leadership skills I gain from both MIT Sloan and the Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, I hope that I can take a major role in improving both manufacturing and supply chain operations in a major U.S. company.”

Another veteran, 32-year old Steve Moga, is also seeking new skills for both personal and societal gain. Moga, who grew up in Houston, enlisted in the Navy in 2000, became a Marine and then an Infantry Officer, eventually becoming second in command to a company of nearly 200 Marines. “Beyond the normal pursuits of a young officer, I was passionate about media usage in counterinsurgency and was fortunate to have the opportunity to run several radio stations in Afghanistan,” where he served in 2010, a year before he left the Marine Corps to take a job at a financial services firm. Moga hopes to use his MBA degree to become a management consultant, focusing as much as possible on the energy sector. He also has a personal goal “to help young veterans,” he said. “I have been involved in several great organizations and would like to either use expertise gained to improve one of them or start a new one. I believe my time at Sloan will expose me to the right people and the right ideas to do this.”

Born in Benin City, Nigeria and raised in New York City, Daniel Obaseki, 26, said he also looks forward to working with “a cohort of classmates who are interested in creating entrepreneurial business solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.” He hopes to use his MBA “to pursue a career building and funding early-stage businesses in Africa with the hopes of creating a generation of sustainable businesses that will impact the economic and social development of the continent.”

Andre Almeida, 30, hopes to add his new MBA lessons to the experience he has gained over a decade of work in law enforcement in Brazil. “U.S. universities and, more specifically, MIT Sloan, have the ability to form global leaders,” he said. “I am interested in networking with brilliant students from many different specialties who are here. I intend to take the knowledge and experience acquired here to Brazil and work hard to make positive impact in people's lives.”