Destination Davis: Executives, Alumni, Peers Welcome New Full-Time MBAs

New Full-Time MBA students hit the ground running in a three-day intensive—and fun—onboarding experience this month. The new cohort met in Davis, spent a day in Sonoma and returned to campus with plenty of time to network and get to know each other and our community.

Day one was punctuated by a kick-off talk by MBA alumnus Michael Hurlston, CEO of Synaptics, followed by a welcome from Dean H. Rao Unnava and a panel of second-year students sharing tips on MBA success.

On day two students jumped on a luxury coach bus to head to soaring redwoods in the Sonoma wine country for an all-day team-building ropes course appropriately called the "Collaboration Challenge.”

Day three included an alumni panel on putting collaborative leadership into action, featuring PG&E Principal Portfolio Manager Robert Bohn MBA 17, Varian Business Manager Tyler Boruff MBA 18, Kaiser Permanente Special Projects Strategist David Bodimer, Amazon Senior Finance Manager Ana Pinaya MBA 17, Keurig and Dr. Pepper Brand Manager Kelly Gillett MBA 18 and Amazon Finance Manager Ana Pinaya MBA 17.

At the end of the day, the cohort signed a student-initiated ethics pledge that reads: “I promise to complete my degree with honesty and integrity, and will continue to hold myself and my classmates to the highest standards of honor from this day forward.”

The students began taking the core course Financial Accounting core course and were treated to a presentation from human resources executive and CEO advisor Paul Bianchi who shared his ethical decision-making framework.

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