News Releases 

Easton Allsop’s preparation to become a pilot officially began when he enrolled in BYU’s Air Force ROTC program. But his journey actually started in Bodney, England—the place where his great-grandfather trained to be a pilot and where Allsop first foresaw his own future.

Taylor Nadauld thanks his 25-year-old self for choosing to leave a lucrative position on Wall Street to earn a PhD. Now the department chair and a professor of finance at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Nadauld teaches the valuable lessons that he learned of faith and finances to his undergraduate and MBA students.

In 1948 Mariyah Housari’s grandparents fled from their home in the Levantine city of Jaffa to Ramallah in the West Bank. Twenty years later, Housari’s father left Palestine for a brighter future in the United States. Fast forward to today, where Housari, an MPA student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, comes full circle as she aims to aid modern-day Palestinian refugees.

As a graduate of the MBA program at BYU Marriott, Christian Da Silva knows that education opens the door of opportunity. With the help of loving friends and family and a Cardon International Sponsorship from the Whitmore Global Business Center, Da Silva discovered ways to continue his education and shape a better future.

Before he came to Provo as the new chair for the Department of Military Science and head of Brigham Young University’s Army ROTC, LTC Travis Bailey planned to make his assignment in Kansas City his last. With a leap of faith to request a new position, Bailey was transferred to BYU, where he now leads the program with his nearly 20 years of active-duty military experience.

Macy LeCheminant began college in Arizona with plans to become a professional vocalist, but a challenging medical condition altered those plans. Now at the BYU Marriott School of Business studying experience design and management, LeCheminant allows her optimism to shape her opportunities.

For Mary & Ellis professor Mark Zimbelman, teaching at the BYU Marriott School of Business is about helping students find spiritual and intellectual truth. As he retires from the School of Accountancy, he reflects on how his faith has helped him make a lasting impact through both his research and his interactions with students.

“We’re moving,” was a phrase Ethan Ritchie, a student in the master of information systems program, heard often in his childhood. As he moved eight times to different states and around the world, Ritche gained an appreciation for people of different backgrounds and beliefs. It is with this openness and desire to learn that Ritchie approaches his life and his studies in the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Erica Jensen and Brianna Merling, two MPA students from the BYU Marriott School of Business, each received the 2023 Doyle W. Buckwalter Award, which includes a $1,500 cash prize, for exemplary performance in respective off-campus internships.

For Brandon Egan, faith has guided his life decisions—from choosing which college to attend to where to focus his studies. After graduating from the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2007, Egan has continued to seek God’s hand as he navigates changes in his career.

In January, Vicki Okerlund retired after 24 years in her position as director of alumni relations for the master of public administration (MPA) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business. From building an alumni network to forging one-on-one relationships with those in the MPA community, Okerlund leaves behind a legacy of Christ-centered leadership that extends beyond the workplace.

For senior Aaron Adams, a human resource management major at the BYU Marriott School of Business, choosing a career path was less about finding a perfect fit and more about finding a path that will help him grow.

An assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resources in the BYU Marriott School of Business, McKenzie Rees had a strong prompting to do a peer-mentoring project for her section of HRM 540: Organizational Effectiveness. “For me, the essence of this class is helping students understand how they can make others feel valued in their work,” Rees says.

After growing up all over the world and working in several different career fields, MBA student Ben Nzojibwami has found his place at the BYU Marriott School of Business as the MBA class president. Nzojibwami’s unique background has helped him center his education on relationships and service.

Sixteen interfaith teams of MBA students from across the country gathered in February to participate in the second annual Faith and Belief at Work Case Competition at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Participants addressed how businesses can encourage employees to bring their whole selves to the workplace.

Justin Weiss, a graduate of the EMPA program from the BYU Marriott School of Business, has lived a life full of unexpected triumphs and hardships. Throughout all of these pivots, Weiss has embraced spiritual, academic, and professional opportunities by keeping an open heart.

Hailey Bronson was a champion high school soccer player. But she gave it up to be a different kind of champion. Bronson, a junior studying information systems at the BYU Marriott School of Business, now channels her time and talents into her academic goals.

In 1991 Deloitte & Touche Professor of Accounting Monte Swain began teaching at the BYU Marriott School of Business. He was just 29 years old—the same age as half of his students. Now, after 33 years of enriching and inspiring the next generation of business students, Swain is teaching his final semester in the School of Accountancy.

Though she had never left the country in her life, Orem native Alyssa Minor took a leap of faith to travel alone to Africa. As a participant in the Ballard Center for Social Impact, Minor researched the humanitarian needs of the orphanages in Ghana, which propelled her to visit the country to help in her own way.

Dale Hull has spent most of his professional career helping others seeking medical attention. During his most recent endeavor, he took the opportunity to help individuals with paralysis by co-founding a rehabilitation center. This year, Hull was named the 2023 Alumnus of the Year by the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics.