Student News
Darla Moore Fellowships Awarded for IMBA Class of 2009
Seventeen members of this year’s entering IMBA class were awarded Darla Moore Fellowships in the amount of $20,000, and 23 others were awarded IMBA Fellowships in the amount of $10,000, through the Darla Moore Fellowship program established in 2000.
These fellowships are highly competitive and are awarded to incoming master’s students with outstanding academic and/or professional accomplishments. Selection criteria include leadership potential based on community service and extracurricular activities, GMAT scores, academic background, and work experience.
Darla Moore Fellows and their undergraduate institutions include:
Megan Ihrie, George Washington University
Joseba Zoco, of Spain, UPNA
Andrea Miceli, Northwestern University
Dru Cameron, University of South Carolina
Katarina Kurtz, University of Toledo
Lin Cao, of China, Central University of Finance & Economics-China
Nathan Drury, Seattle University
Tsvetelina Envea, of Bulgaria, International University Bremen
Matthew Marzolo, Grand Valley State University
Jason Thacker, Duke University
George Cushnie, College of William and Mary
Nathan Etheridge, Trinity University
Jacob Farrell, College of Charleston
You Lin, of Taiwan, National Chung-Hsing University
Matthew Podominick, Michigan Technological University
Andy Allen, Davidson College
Ann Frazer, University of Virginia
IMBA Fellows are:
Michael Flanagin, University of Central Arkansas
Terence Noonan, Appalachian State University
Philippe Herndon, College of William and Mary
Valerie Richard, University of Mary Washington
Javier Arevalo, of Venezuela, Georgia Institute of Technology
Karen Bermudez, of Colombia, Universidad de la Sabana
Melissa Jimeno, Lake Forest College
Ganesh Kandarfale, of India, University of Pune
Kellen Riley, University of South Carolina
Gautam Saraff, of Nepal, Indian Inst. of Technology-Kanpur
Anthony Skove, Clemson University
Zhengli Zhu, of China, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Veesu Nakinbodee, of Thailand, Chulalongkom
Anna Thompson, Clemson University
Jeffrey Rollison, Wofford College
Valentine Flegal, Georgia Institute of Technology
Patrick Scarlett, University of Notre Dame
John Chappell, University of South Carolina
Scott Kuhlke, University of Colorado
Juan Zhong, of China, Xiangtan University
Douglas Ingalls, Furman University
Carter Saunders, Northwestern University
Edilbek Kornurbaev, of Kyrgyzstan, Osh State University
In addition, there were two
Peace Corps Fellowship awards:
Steven Coffman, Tulane University
Nolen Johnson, University of Wisconsin
Three Profiles of Darla Moore Fellows
Joseba Zoco was born in Pamplona, Spain, the capital
of the historic Kingdom of Navarre best known for the San Fermin festival and the Running of the
Bulls.
He visited the U.S. for the first time as an exchange student at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, SC. It was here that he first heard about the Moore School’s IMBA program. "I remember learning about the program while in high school, and I thought that it sounded very interesting," said Zoco. He then returned home to attend the UPNA in Pamplona, graduating with a degree in business administration.
After working for several local companies, he decided to get more involved in international business. He was selected to work at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, Taiwan, as a trade advisor. "I joined a team of really talented young professionals, and my experience there opened many doors for doing business in Asia."
China was his next stop, when he signed with Esmalglass-Itaca Group, a Spanish corporation headquartered in Castellon, the heart of the ceramic industry in Spain. His position was in the Finance department working closely with the finance manager, and linking the subsidiary in Kunshan, a city just outside Shanghai, with the main office.
After this assignment, having spent almost three years in Taipei and Shanghai, he decided the time was right to pursue his IMBA at the Moore School of Business. "I was very interested in the Chinese Track that the school offers, because it would allow me to gain valuable business knowledge to complement my hands-on experience in that area of the world. Receiving a Darla Moore Fellowship was a great honor, and it gave me the opportunity to attend the program."
He would like to blend his international background, work experience and foreign language fluency with the IMBA education to pursue a career in international management. His interests include the hospitality and tourism sector, aviation industry and coaching services.
Andrea Miceli grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
and got her first taste of international living when her family moved to Japan for a year and a
half while she was in elementary school. Much later, while studying toward a communications degree
at Northwestern University, Andrea continued her study of the French language that she started in
high school and spent her junior year in a study abroad program at Sweet Briar College in Paris,
France.
When she graduated she wasn’t certain about a career path, but thought that her uncle’s lifestyle as an entrepreneur seemed very appealing. With his advice to get some experience running a business, she took a job managing an educational center in Chicago that was under the umbrella of a larger corporation. A year later, she became a program advisor at Strategic Coach. There she provided life coaching and business coaching to successful entrepreneurs to help them get a better grasp of their unique abilities, and how to best manage their attention and time to effectively grow their businesses.
Through this work experience she realized that she liked business a whole lot more than she thought she would. She also thought that she needed a better foundation in business principles, so she began looking at business schools. "I still had that itch for the international piece that I hadn’t quite satisfied, so that‘s what led me to an international MBA," said Miceli.
"I wanted to come to a place where an experience was involved that could help you progress toward a well-paying career, but at the same time wasn’t going to neglect the need to have an interesting, fulfilling, broader life. So I started to research international MBA programs and there just wasn’t anything else out there like the Moore School. Nothing else gave this much time abroad and still covered just as much rigorous business material," explained Miceli. “Nothing else grabbed me the way this school did. And I was impressed that they were so highly ranked."
Miceli’s goal is to become truly bilingual and is continuing her studies in the French Track. After she finishes her language and cultural studies at the prestigious ESC in Clermont, France, she will begin her internship with Michelin in France.
Nathan Cushnie, raised in Fairfax,
Virginia, earned a business degree from the College of William and Mary. After graduation he took a
business development job in Washington D.C. with Corporate Executive Board. During his
more-than-four years with that research and consulting firm, he was promoted to a position in
London that required him to travel to more than 20 countries in Central Europe and South Africa.
Then after a year as a branch manager of Ajilon Finance, Nathan developed an interest in finance.
He set his sights on an MBA for a foundation in finance and an international business focus. From
his extensive travels he developed a desire to learn a foreign language.
While researching his MBA options he realized that the Moore School was exactly what he was looking for. "I am in the Spanish—in Spain, because I enjoyed my time in Europe, said Nathan. “My interests are still in executive management consulting with a specific interest in corporate finance." To enrich his finance coursework, he will be working a finance-related internship in investment banking in Madrid, Spain, in spring 2008.
Nathan says he has been very satisfied with the Moore School. "Every course has had its own international perspective—that’s exactly what I wanted. So the international spin on the MBA has been rewarding. And I am really excited about going abroad now," said Nathan.
After earning his International MBA, Nathan’s goal is to return to Europe to rejoin with his
fiancé, a Slovakian he met while working in London.