Since our charter class graduated more than 25 years ago, alumni
from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management have been making
their presence known around the world.
Our graduates are CEOs, vice presidents, chief financial
officers, chief operating officers and entrepreneurs. Around the
globe, they have taken prominent roles as international business
leaders in a wide range of industries and organizations.
Graduate School of Management alumni are actively involved in
their communities, and they make time for mentoring, advising and
assisting current students and networking with fellow graduates.
Kevin DeLury ’07 Solves Complex Problems at Booz Allen Hamilton
Kevin DeLury was “fortunate enough to have an internship through the GSM that ultimately led to my first position after business school. At Blue Shield of California I assumed a broad range of roles in their operations division, where I did everything from write and negotiate contracts, manage overseas call centers and internal operations, to automate manual enrollment processes. At every turn I found myself using the skills I learned at the GSM to help improve operational processes and drive better performance.
Ariana Brill ’10 Makes Work as Cool as Play at Nickelodeon
Ariana Brill thrives on challenges. A few months after receiving her BA in cognitive science and geography from Vassar College—one of the top liberal arts schools in the country—she entered the UC Davis School of Law to study intellectual property law. A year later she commenced her MBA studies at the Graduate School of Management.
Daniel Walter ’00 Finds a World of Satisfaction as a Director for WHO
On New Year’s Eve, 2000—just weeks after acing his last UC Davis MBA final—Daniel Walter, his wife and their two young daughters boarded a plane for New Delhi and a new life. They spent New Year’s Day “somewhere in the air,” arriving safely on January 2.
Jeff Ansley ’09 Builds a Soaring Solar Career
Jeff Ansley embarked on his planet-saving career in 1993 in East Africa, where he installed remote photovoltaic systems and taught residents how to install and service solar equipment. Today he is president of Natron Resources, Inc., an Oakland, Calif.–based solar system design and engineering company he founded while a student in the Bay Area Working Professional MBA program. Natron Resources is dedicated to making solar energy economically feasible for its residential and business clients.
Marc Adams ‘99: Pushing the Limits at Wells Fargo—and in Life
As vice president, risk consultant at Wells Fargo and Company in Charlotte, N.C., Marc Adams provides portfolio analysis and forecasts for the bank’s retail consumer credit lines of business. It’s challenging work that draws on his deep background in the financial services industry, where he experienced both the boom of the dot-com era and the subsequent economic meltdown at Barclay’s Global Investors and Wachovia.
Outside of work, “I’m learning Argentine tango with my wife, a native of Costa Rica, learning to play Flamenco guitar and traveling as much as possible,” says Adams.
Michael Fisher ’04: The Evolution of Content Consumption
As senior director of business development for Sling Media, Michael Fisher thrives on the cutting edge of the dynamic content consumption industry. Founded in 2004, Sling Media, Inc. specializes in audio and video placeshifting technology. Its innovative, Emmy award–winning products allowing consumers to watch their home TV from virtually anywhere across the globe.
“I feel extremely lucky to be at this intersection of amazing technology and compelling user experiences,” says Fisher.
Noemi Danao ’04: A Global Citizen Does Well by Doing Good
Noemi Danao’s passport reflects her frequent travel from her current hometown of Quito, Ecuador, to countries throughout Latin America and Europe. At the head of business development for the Dutch social enterprise SNV, Danao uses her business acumen to help private sector firms, government institutions, NGOs and community-based organizations link low-income producers and consumers to formal markets.
Mike Livak ’98 Thrives on Tahoe’s Snowy Slopes
A lifelong ski enthusiast, Mike Livak spent six years as a ski instructor before entering the UC Davis MBA program. Upon graduation in 1998, he explored other options, but quickly returned to the industry he loves. Today Livak is a senior vice president at the Squaw Valley Ski Corporation, a fascinating and diverse job that keeps him busy—most recently assisting in Squaw’s merger with neighboring Alpine Meadows. The deal combined two of Tahoe’s oldest resorts to create North America’s largest mountain resort.
Hanna Katrin Fridriksson ’01
Defining Success in Iceland’s New Economy
A few months after she received her MBA in 2001, Hanna Katrin Fridriksson returned to Iceland to embark on a career that has proven as rewarding as it is challenging and diverse. Today, after stints in higher education, the shipping industry and government, she is helping healthcare company Icepharma thrive in a radically new economic reality.
Jill Abrams ‘03
Graduate School of Management Alumni Association, 2011 Outstanding Service Alumni Award
A graduate of the Daytime class of 2003, Jill Abrams is a marketing program manager at Agilent Technologies in Santa Clara, Calif.
In addition to her job responsibilities, Jill has devoted much time working for the GSM community. She has been one of Agilent’s campus managers for the School for the last eight years. She represented Agilent at nine GSM career fairs and has hosted two “Shadow Days” for GSM students, along with spearheading the effort to arrange for Agilent sponsorship as a premier sponsor at the 2010 ASM golf tournament.
David Quigg ‘94
Banking on the Future at Wells Fargo
David Quigg ’94 is enjoying a long, successful career at Wells Fargo, North America’s most extensive financial services network. After rising through the ranks in California, six years ago he moved to St. Paul, where he today serves as a senior vice president, managing 800 employees, $5 billion in assets and more than 40 bank stores. And he still finds time to squeeze in some golf—Minnesota weather permitting.
Phoebe Cameron ’98
A Consultant Gives Back
Phoebe Cameron joined The Warner Group (TWG) as a consultant after earning her UC Davis MBA in 1998. When Gartner Consulting acquired TWG a year later, she remained with the firm and today is a director in Gartner’s Sacramento, Calif., offices.
Christopher Zobrist ‘06
An Entrepreneur Invests in Vietnam
Shortly after receiving his MBA in 2006, Christopher Zobrist moved to Ho Chi Minh City. He subsequently founded and managed an IT outsourcing company, cofounded a lead-recycling company and has advised numerous start-ups. He also co-authored a grant proposal to raise $1 million U.S. for empowering people with disabilities in Vietnam.
Skip Wise ‘89
When he was 15, Charles V. “Skip” Wise and his family lived in Iran, where his father worked for an AT&T subsidiary—and unrest against the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi grew daily. While on a family trip to Thailand, their resident visas were voided and Iran closed its airports. “They didn’t want us back, and we didn’t try,” Wise said. From temporary quarters in Greece they watched the situation deteriorate. They returned to the United States just months before radical students took hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979.
Chris Welsh ‘05
Disciplined Leader at Big Blue
For alumnus Chris Welsh ‘05, setting a standard of excellence is paramount in striving for personal and professional success.
The week before starting the UC Davis MBA program, he completed a tour as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps rated among the top 10 percent of his peers. Within days of earning his MBA, Welsh joined IBM in San Francisco, where he graduated with distinction—near the top of his class—from the company’s six-month Global Sales School.
Cathinka Wahlstrom ‘91
Graduate School of Management Alumni Association 2011 Distinguished Achievement Alumni Award
Swedish native Cathinka Wahlstrom, has a Bachelor of Arts in economics and journalism. She began her affiliation with the GSM in 1989 when she began the Daytime MBA program.
Her earlier work experience includes positions with the International Monetary Fund, Hay Management Consultants and Citibank.
David Sunstrom ‘85
Recognizing his “distinguished career in public sector finance and auditing” and his “strong commitment to serving citizens through transparency in financial reporting,” the Financial Accounting Foundation has named alumnus David E. Sundstrom ’85 to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
Cleveland Justis ‘04
Cleveland Justis ‘04 came to the Graduate School of Management from the nonprofit world looking to learn hard business skills, make business connections and take on leadership opportunities. He got much more than he expected.
Sue Miller-Sylvia ‘98
IBM Exec Blends Business with Technology
Since graduating from the Working Professional MBA program in 1998, Sue Miller-Sylvia’s career has expanded to draw on her diverse skill set. Her two senior roles at IBM both challenge and nourish her, drawing on her strong leadership talents—and blending her dual backgrounds in business and technology.
Jennifer Vogt ’03
Adding Value by Leveraging Both Sides of the Brain
As the internal audit director at DreamWorks Animation, Jennifer Vogt combined the creative credentials she’d earned at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MBA to understand and advance both production and financial perspectives. Now she’s bringing that right brain-left brain duality to her new position as director of Contract Compliance Services at KPMG.