The alumni from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley are much like a tree with branches spreading in many directions. While all students share the roots of a rigorous education and quality of experience, their career paths grow and branch into diverse sectors and create wide impact across all major industries.
Part of the unique Haas experience is the availability of the resources, connections, and support network necessary to catalyze so many unique career paths. Students come into the MBA program from various walks of life, each with their own dream and goal. Beyond the academic rigor of classes, exams, and projects, Haas launches students into successful career paths across wildly varied sectors. It empowers students with the resources necessary to nurture their budding dreams into a living reality.
From healthcare to tech to social impact, below are just a few examples of how MBA alumni are thriving across all different industries.
Healthcare: systems and solutions
Healthcare is one of the most personal and consequential industries in the world, and Haas alumni have a long and proud history of advancing innovative systems and solutions. These solutions directly improve the lives of fellow citizens and have changed the healthcare landscape as we know it.
Messing Haigler, MBA/MPH 09, and Terrell Baptiste, MBA 20, are just two of the many alumni working to drive healthcare forward by harnessing data to improve outcomes, from substance abuse to cancer care.
To help address the substance abuse crisis, Messing helped design OneFifteen, a system that “relies on a comprehensive care continuum powered by a technology infrastructure that enables better data collection throughout the treatment and recovery process.” One key feature of this system is its ability to utilize real-world data from outside a doctor’s office, allowing for more effective monitoring of patients and treatment plans.
Similarly, Terrell Baptiste utilizes real-world data in his role as senior manager at Gilead Sciences. He works to “identify ways the pharmaceutical company can use information from nontraditional sources to speed the development and approval of new cancer drugs.” For both of these alumni, strategically gathering and utilizing real-world data speeds and enhances outcomes for those in need of treatment.
In addition to improving systems, Haas alumni create new product solutions that drive healthcare innovation. For example, Jason Bellet, BS 14, co-founded Eko Devices alongside fellow Berkeley alumni Connor Landgraf and Tyler Crouch. Eko has developed a redesigned digital stethoscope that eliminates background noise, amplifies heart and lung sounds, and facilitates easier detection of heart disease problems. The company is also developing AI screening tools to further enhance detection and care.
The entrepreneurial spirit of these alumni reflects the overall culture of innovation incubated at Haas.
Click here to read more about Messing, Terrell, and Jason’s innovative healthcare solutions.
Technology: driving innovation with AI and crypto
It’s no secret that technology is evolving at unprecedented rates. From AI to crypto to bioengineering, the tech world has an ever-expanding presence in our day-to-day lives. This industry also beckons to a large number of Haas alums and was the largest employer of the school’s 2023 graduates.
One such grad is Jeff Wang, MBA 20. Jeff’s career began in project management roles at various large companies, but he had a sinking feeling that he was “losing his soul.” What he really wanted was to make new products that would be world-changing. It was around this point in time that he decided to attend Haas and earn his MBA in order to pursue new opportunities.
After graduation, Jeff joined a fellow classmate Brett Li at his startup. As a side hobby, he and classmate Steven Hubbard also started RocketFuel as an education platform to discuss and make predictions about crypto, macros, and AI. Originally designed to help beginners learn how to dip their toes into these new technologies, RocketFuel now has programs and education for people at every stage of the journey—from introductory videos to an Elite Coaching program.
In addition to being a writer and host for RocketFuel, Jeff works full-time in tech as the Head of Business at AI code-generation company Codeium. If that weren’t enough, he also keeps an active Substack where he writes about AI news and trends.
When talking about how his experience at Haas helped prepare him for his current path, he shared that Haas was a place to find open doors. Being surrounded by like-minded people with an entrepreneurial spirit became a catalyst for Jeff into his dynamic tech career.
Listen to more of Jeff’s story on the OneHaas Alumni Podcast here.
Finance: how Haas launches students into lucrative investment banking careers
Not to be overshadowed, Haas alumni have long been making waves in the highly competitive financial landscape. Especially notable is alumni success within the extremely rigorous and restrictive investment banking sector.
a strong finance faculty and curriculum, a Career Management Group that’s well-connected to the top banks and supports students through the often intense recruiting process, and a powerful alumni network.”
Rita Wiley, MBA 22, shared that in order to prepare for internship recruiting, “MBA’s typically commit to investment banking quickly.” With a high barrier-to-entry, this is not an area that can be entered with a casual interest. Fortunately, Berkeley Haas offers the support, mentorship, and opportunities necessary to launch into this lucrative career path.
According to another article featuring William Rindfuss, manager of financial services recruiting at Haas, there are several Haas features that make it a prime location for MBA’s interested in investment banking: “a strong finance faculty and curriculum, a Career Management Group that’s well-connected to the top banks and supports students through the often intense recruiting process, and a powerful alumni network.”
This strong structural support has led to much student success—even internationally. For example: Christina Ma, MBA 01, had worked her way up in the finance world in Hong Kong before taking a pause to earn her MBA with Haas. After that, she returned to Hong Kong to work at Goldman Sachs. She steadily climbed the ranks and today is the Head of Global Banking.
Regardless of whether students are aiming for a position in a smaller company with a close-knit culture or want to stretch their wings in a global position like Christina, Haas provides students with the connections, education, and bridges needed for students to reach their goals.
Read more about Christina here and more about Rita and William here.
Thought leadership: shaping strategies from within
Professor David J. Teece knows a thing or two about thought leadership. He is credited with the dynamic capability framework, which he describes as, “a firm’s ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments.” A company with dynamic capability is not only able to conduct normal operations efficiently and effectively, they are able to innovate within the company to address new challenges and spearhead new strategies.
David’s work is widely recognized around the world and in 2020 was named the “most cited of 36,000 scholars in the field of business management.” His original work is frequently cited by students and experts alike and has created a culture of innovation and thought leadership within Haas and its students.
One such alumni innovator is Alex Levich, MBA 09. Alex is a Product Management Executive at Google. Two of her many entrepreneurial-minded projects are now quite ubiquitous in everyday life: the Google Chromebook and the USB-C universal connector. About the USB-C, Alex says, “We wanted to create a future where no one ever worried about missing a particular cable to charge a device, so we set out to create a new standard.”
By cultivating this entrepreneurial mindset within all students, Haas graduates act as innovative thought leaders across the board—whether operating at a brand new start-up or at one of the largest companies in the world.
Click here to read more about Professor Teece, Alex, and other Haas thought leaders.
Social impact: mental health warriors
It’s well known that a large portion of the population will, at one point or another, struggle with mental health challenges. A fast-paced world with high levels of stress, anxiety, and social pressures can lead to any number of crises and daily difficulties. Haas students have been diligently working to address this growing need and to create mental-health solutions for companies and individuals.
After going through his own set of challenges, Ian Shea, BCEMBA 07, created a program called I M Human. This program “consults companies on initiatives that support the mental and emotional well-being needs of their employees.” While there are many options and applications within their programming, the heart of it all is to encourage a culture shift: where companies decide that employee well-being is central to their business identity.
Another way Haas students are moving the ball forward on social impact is through the John E. Martin Mental Healthcare Challenge. Created by Michael Martin, MBA 09, this challenge invites teams of students at various top business schools to propose solutions to current mental healthcare challenges. Since the challenge began, UC Berkeley teams have won the competition two out of three times.
Haas has never forgotten that ultimately businesses are run by people. And in order for business to flourish, the people running the businesses must also be flourishing. These students and alumni are on the forefront of efforts to prioritize human well-being alongside the other corporate concerns.
An MBA for all occasions
One of the truly distinctive elements of a Haas MBA is how it prepares students to thrive across all industries. Like branches of a well-watered tree, the reach of Haas alumni is incredibly expansive.
This is not a program that confines graduates to a small subset of the business world. On the contrary, even these handful of examples illustrate how the education, resources, and networks provided by Berkeley serve as door openers into any and every sector of student interest.
This feat is accomplished through an unmatched faculty, strategic location, and a plethora of key connections with decision-makers throughout all these different sectors. A Haas MBA not only educates and inspires, but it provides the real-world support needed to launch students into diverse fields; it provides the fuel necessary to turn ideas into the realities that are changing all facets of the world as we know it.
