News Releases 

When recent BYU Marriott School of Business MISM graduate Allyson Irwin was trying to find a coding camp for young students that she could work for last summer, she was surprised at the lack of options. While plenty of technical camps were available to adults, Irwin couldn't find any introductory programs for young people who were curious about the field. The absence of a coding camp for beginners became the inspiration for Code Adventure, a coding camp for young girls to learn the basics of coding and t he countless ways coding is used in a variety of fields.

As a young man with a limp and a stutter, James "Jim" Ritchie didn't believe he would be able to compete in life. However, a talk he gave as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed his life. A lifetime of business success later, Ritchie is now a Rollins Center Entrepreneur Founder with the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Twenty years ago, as a senior in high school, Craig Hirschi sat in the cold in Brigham City, Utah, waiting for his turn to pass the Olympic torch as a torch runner for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. His friends and family stood on the sidelines, cheering him on. Now as a student in the executive MPA (EMPA) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Hirschi appreciates his classmates, who cheer him on in similar ways.

While growing up in the back country of Cody, Wyoming, Jerry Christensen never imagined he would one day travel to 65 countries across six continents. Now, Christensen draws from his international experience to teach about current issues happening in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as an adjunct professor for the BYU Marriott School of Business. Christensen's class, MSB 596R: Business German, is part of the Global Business and Literacy minor offered through the Whitmore Global Business Center (GBC) at BYU Marriott.

Nine students at the BYU Marriott School of Business were recently honored as 2022 Bateman Award recipients for their excellence both inside and outside the classroom. The annual award, named for Merrill J. Bateman, allows each undergraduate program at BYU Marriott to select a 2021–22 academic year senior for recognition.

As BYU Marriott School of Business students prepare for careers after graduation, a new resource is now available to support them in their professional development and placement. The newly created Young Professional Advisory Council will give students the opportunity to learn from alumni who graduated from BYU Marriott during the previous 10 years.

Life sometimes has a funny way of helping people find their paths, and in the case of MPA alumna Shari Grossarth, her road to the BYU Marriott School of Business began with ants. When ant research conducted during her undergrad eventually led to the MPA program, this conservation biology student discovered a side of public administration she previously didn't know existed.

Eighteen years after being hired as the second student employee at the Ballard Center for Social Impact at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Aaron Miller now helps lead the center as an associate managing director. Through his nearly two decades worth of experience in encouraging and supporting students as they “Do Good Better,” Miller also spends his free time teaching others about the benefits of helping people.

In the fourth grade, Miranda Barnard pulled out the typewriter she received for Christmas and started her own newspaper; she called it Vanishing Tracks. She distributed copies of the paper, which was about endangered animals, to her friends at school. From there, Barnard's love of storytelling grew, leading her to a career using communication to benefit others.

Remember when all those Twitter and Instagram posts thanking front-line workers blew up after the COVID-19 pandemic hit? Turns out those were a big deal to essential workers according to new research from BYU Marriott HRM professor Taeya Howell.

While their classmates shivered through another week during the Utah winter, two experience design and management students enjoyed the sunny coasts of Hollywood Beach, Florida. Camille Cooper and Kylie Jensen attended the Stadium Managers Association seminar in February as scholarship recipients and interns, honing skills they learn at the BYU Marriott School of Business and preparing for their future careers.

A chain of events stretching through five universities and a faith conversion led Dan Heist to his research linking religion and philanthropic behavior. Most of Heist's research explores how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints facilitates volunteer behavior--from accepting church callings to volunteering to pray.

After taking classes for three potential majors at BYU and not finding what he was looking for, Joshua Beacham discovered the experience design and management major at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Now a senior in the program, Beacham came to realize the major was the perfect fit for his career goals.

A recent study co-authored by BYU Marriott professor Camilla Hodge finds that the U.S.’s Every Kid Outdoors program, which gives families with fourth graders free access to national parks, is leading to an increased frequency of hiking with children.

Nestled on the coast of a quiet inlet on the Myrtoan Sea is Nafplio, Greece. The town is home to two companies that currently have student consultants from a university on the other side of the world tucked on the side of the Wasatch Mountains. These student consultants from the BYU Marriott School of Business recently traveled to Greece to meet and learn from the business leaders with whom they are consulting during the winter 2022 semester.

At the end of every academic year, BYU awards one professor from each college with the Inspiring Learning Award. Experience design and management professor Ramon Zabriskie is the 2022 BYU Marriott School of Business recipient for the student-nominated award. The honor recognizes a faculty or staff member’s dedication to student growth through active mentoring.

Marketing students at BYU Marriott recently had a chance to network with sales professionals and compete for high-value prizes at the on-campus event dubbed Salesapalooza. With more than 60 student attendees and 40 sales professionals participating in the event, Salesapalooza proved to be a success for everyone involved.

Although Mike Drake was raised in Nevada, he calls BYU home. He spent three years at the BYU Marriott School of Business as a student, where he made lifelong memories, including meeting his wife McKenzie, then returned to the school as a professor out of a desire to feel at home again.

One of Ioana Schifirnet's favorite things about living in London is visiting the art museums. Schifirnet, a 2016 information systems (IS) graduate, came to love art history after taking art history classes during her time as a student at the BYU Marriott School of Business. She recognizes many similarities between art history and one of her personal passions: data analysis.

As David Matkin watched his son's rock-climbing team in a competition nearly six years ago, he was enthralled by the children's perseverance. This experience motivated Matkin to try climbing himself, and he soon fell in love with the sport. Now, as a professor in the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Matkin teaches his students the same values rock climbing instills in him.