Globally Savvy MBA Students Win Eccles Scholar Awards

Back row, from left to right: Ryan Andrus; James Fowler; and Kyle Freebairn. Front row, from left to right: Sevak Tsaturyan; Zac Clarke; and Michelle Blood. Photos by Jaren Wilkey/BYU PhotoPROVO, Utah – Apr 10, 2009 – BYU MBA students from California to Armenia are preparing to flood the globe with business skills and international expertise. To better prepare these students for their future international roles, the Kay and Yvonne Whitmore Global Management Center named six students from the MBA Class of 2010 as George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Scholars. Each student receives $10,000 to further his or her Marriott School education and to prepare them for the world of international business.

"The Eccles Scholar award signals recruiters that these students are passionate about international business," says Lee Radebaugh, director of the Global Management Center. "We selected students who we felt were very much interested in and prepared for international careers."

The 2009 Eccles Scholars are first-year MBA students: Ryan Andrus from Orem, Utah; Michelle Blood from Murrieta, Calif.; Zachary Clarke from Pocatello, Idaho; James Fowler from Sandy Creek, N.Y.; Kyle Freebairn from Tucson, Ariz.; and Sevak Tsaturyan from Dilijam, Armenia.

"The decision was very difficult to make because all of the candidates were outstanding," Radebaugh says, "and some of those who did not make it into the final six were also very deserving of the award."

Five faculty members from the Marriott School aided Radebaugh in the selection process by interviewing each of the 17 applicants. The scholars were selected based on international experience, a passion for international business, career goals and academic markers such as GMAT score, GPA and faculty recommendations.

Each scholar sees a BYU education as a great help to them in their international business career. "BYU is a special place," Tsaturyan says. "It is not only a spiritual and admirable campus but an overall excellent university."

The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation was formed in 1960 as a philanthropic work that would continue beyond the donors' lifetimes. The foundation supports a wide range of projects and programs throughout the state, including having funds and programs established on nearly every college and university campus in Utah.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.

Eccles Scholar Bios

Ryan Bowman Andrus is a first-year BYU MBA student from Orem, Utah. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oregon in 2004 with a degree in business administration. Andrus learned Spanish after serving an LDS mission in Tampico, Mexico. Later, he worked for four years at Intel in Portland, training and supporting networks of factory cost analysts in the United States, Ireland, Israel and parts of Costa Rica and Southeast Asia. In May, Andrus will participate in a three-week social venture project in Paraguay. "This summer, I will also be interning at the treasury department of Western Union in Denver, doing projects that involve foreign currency exchange and risk management," Andrus says.

Michelle Lani Blood is a first-year MBA student from Murrieta, Calif., studying organizational behavior and human resources. She graduated from BYU in 2007 with a BS in psychology and a minor in business. She participated in the BYU London Study Abroad program and currently works with Ponseti International, having recently conducted research in Belize. During spring term, she will continue research in Mozambique, analyzing income generation tactics for families, and also intern in Denver at Western Union. "I'm excited about this scholarship because it will give me a chance to follow up on the Mozambique research I am doing," Blood says. "I hope I can return and implement some of the strategies I'll be doing this summer."

Zachary Craig Clarke grew up in Pocatello, Idaho, and graduated from Idaho State University in 2004 with a degree in economics. A first-year MBA student with an emphasis in supply chain management, Clarke enjoys traveling, speaks fluent French, and has climbed Mt. Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. He lived in Cameroon for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, taught English in Nepal, worked for an NGO in Cambodia and is currently conducting an international field study with Ponseti International. "I am passionate about international business and the opportunities for business creation in developing countries," Clarke says. After graduating, he plans to work in a global supply chain role, most directly with Central African countries and other developing regions.

James Christopher Fowler graduated from BYU in 2006 with a BA in Chinese. A native of Sandy Creek, N.Y., Fowler served in the Taiwan Taipei Mission for the LDS Church and was also a David L. Boren Fellow in the BYU Chinese Flagship Program. He worked for two years as a China desk officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., before enrolling in the BYU MBA program in 2008. "This program is a great fit for me because a huge part of the world's supply runs through China," Fowler says. He is a pioneer in establishing the China Business Club at BYU. "There's a huge network at BYU that is untapped," Fowler says, referring to numerous China-related programs on campus. "What we want to do with the China Business Club is build networks, strengthen relationships and act as a bridge."

O. Kyle Freebairn graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in psychology in 2002 — at the age of 19. After serving as an LDS missionary in the Taiwain Taichung Mission, he worked for U.S. Airways as a financial analyst/strategic forecast analyst, working with cargo vendors, trucking companies and station managers in Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. Freebairn is now a first-year MBA student with an emphasis in marketing. He hopes to work internationally as a brand manager and one day expand on his entrepreneurial ventures. "Being at the Marriott School has opened my eyes to the realization that any vision is possible through hard work, great relationships and integrity," Freebairn says. He founded Horizon Surfboards, an import company that designed, shipped and resold surfboards online from China to the United States. An avid musician, Freebairn has played in both a reggae and rock/jazz-combo band.

Sevak Tsaturyan grew up Dilijam, Armenia, speaking Armenian and Russian. After graduating with a BA in international studies, Tsaturyan worked for Merrill Lynch in Southern California as a financial adviser, an opportunity that allowed him to work in Paris and Switzerland — and learn French. Following his first-year MBA studies, he will work this summer in San Francisco with Credit Suisse. But he most appreciates his BYU experience. "As an undergraduate, I had always felt the very special spirit here at BYU, but I never fully grasped its uniqueness until I left to go work elsewhere," Tsaturyan says.