News Releases 

Earlier this year, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced the winners for the 2020–21 PCAOB scholarships. Two students from the School of Accountancy (SOA) at the BYU Marriott School of Business were among the recipients: Joy Saline, an accounting senior from Snowflake, Arizona; and Derek Smith, a second-year MAcc student from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Case competitions test students’ business skills, work ethic, and stamina, but few people find that case competitions bring out their emotional side. However, Liz Dixon often sheds joyful tears as she watches her students present their solutions and find success at international case competitions. Through her work as an adjunct professor of management communications at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Dixon empowers students to excel in many different areas, and she loves seeing them succeed.

In a global market that is constantly expanding, companies that wish to succeed must understand how to apply business strategies and models to a plethora of cultures and peoples. Through the efforts of dedicated faculty at the BYU Marriott School of Business, students in the marketing program are getting firsthand knowledge of what it means to market to a global audience; they are also learning how to truly make the world their campus.

Brigham Young University ROTC student Kenna Brown, from Centerville, Utah, is one of only twenty-one women cadets in the BYU Army ROTC program. After watching military heroes during her childhood, Brown aspired to become an Army nurse, and she is committed to serving and healing others as they did.

Students from the BYU Marriott School of Business attend the Purdue Human Resources case competition every year, but this year’s competition led to an especially exciting result. BYU Marriott’s undergraduate and MBA teams both took first place in their divisions. Two students, Amelia Phillips and Sam Porter, also won the award for the best question-and-answer responder. As teams adapted to the new virtual format, they worked through problems that will be applicable in their future careers.

The path to the BYU Marriott School of Business began for Rocky Wang in his home country of China, coursed across the green fields of Scotland and Ireland, and weaved through the snowy grounds of BYU–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, before finally bringing him to BYU campus in Provo. Now as a junior in the School of Accountancy (SOA) at BYU Marriott, Wang knows his path will lead him to further growth in his future career.

As a fourteen-year-old experiencing Disneyland for the first time, Macie Briggs Duncan knew her life was forever changed—something inside her had awakened. As she walked around, inhaling the scents of churros and popcorn, she knew she wanted to create experiences like this in her future career. Briggs Duncan, now an alumna of the Experience Design and Management (ExDM) Department at BYU Marriott School of Business, believes this experience was the start of her journey to the ExDM program.

At sixteen years old, Brad Mills taught himself to design websites and started his own web design business. At the time, he just wanted to earn money to fund his future college education—but he did much more than that. Not only did this experience help Mills pay for his schooling, but it also became the inspiration that would lead him to a degree in entrepreneurship from the BYU Marriott School of Business and a fulfilling career building businesses and helping companies grow.

Ben Lewis, an associate professor in the management department at the BYU Marriott School of Business, recently received the Emerging Scholar Award from the Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE) division of the Academy of Management. The award was presented at the ONE business meeting at the Annual Conference for the Academy of Management. This virtual meeting was held in August 2020.

Most people would not move by themselves to an island they had never visited in the middle of a global pandemic. Stephanie Janczak, a senior studying therapeutic recreation and management at the BYU Marriott School of Business, is not one of those people. Janczak’s internship and graduation plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, so she grabbed the opportunity to explore a new place while completing her final internship.

With an open road and more than two thousand miles ahead of him, Matthew LeBaron started a bike ride across the country to raise money for juvenile diabetes research. Such a journey would be daunting for even the most experienced cyclist, and LeBaron hadn’t ridden more than twenty miles in a day before he began the journey. However, LeBaron, a BYU Marriott School of Business strategy graduate, remained committed to his goal to bike from California to Florida.

Steven Fox's life experiences have taught him how to look outside himself and serve those around him. Now, as he returns to BYU Marriott, Fox continues to prioritize serving others.

In a year where many plans and events have been postponed or canceled altogether, Alexa Elliott is cautiously and optimistically moving forward. Despite a variety of challenges faced, Elliott, a junior from Gaithersburg, Maryland studying journalism at BYU, recently decided now was the right time to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Since root beer became commercially available in 1876, the popular soft drink flavor has found its way into a variety of delicious delights: hard candies, gummies, jelly beans, and, perhaps most importantly, root beer floats. For Taylor Wells, a professor of information systems at the BYU Marriott School of Business, root beer is more than just a tasty treat—the beverage is also a part of his everyday life as a teacher and mentor.

Many university students often work to balance their classwork with social fun and work responsibilities outside of school. However, BYU Marriott School of Business entrepreneurship senior Braiden Day juggles more responsibilities than the average university student. On top of school and full-time work, Day is also a father to four children, a two-year-old and newborn triplets.

Brilliant inventions often emerge from a flash of inspiration—or even a bolt of lightning, as in the well-known story of Benjamin Franklin. While the ideas submitted to the 2020 Big Idea Pitch competition didn't come from a student flying a kite in a lightning storm, BYU student entrepreneurs expressed similar dedication to turning their ideas into real innovations.

Few people can walk into a store and pick up an item off the shelf that they helped create. Jason Alleger, an MBA alumnus from the BYU Marriott School of Business, can. During his summer 2017 internship with General Mills, Alleger was on the team that researched and developed Nature Valley Wafer Bars for General Mills. Although Alleger has many impressive feats on his résumé, he credits that General Mills internship for being the springboard to his current position as director of consumer insights and strategy with Traeger Grills.

In remembrance of the tragic events of September 11th, members from the BYU Army and Air Force ROTC joined together to reflect and honor the fallen.

Instead of going to the playground as a child, Luana Tu’ua spent her childhood going to the Salt Lake City airport to watch airplanes take off to destinations beyond. Ever since, Tu’ua, the BYU Marriott School of Business global supply chain senior and Women in Business club president, has endeavored to pursue her passion for aerospace and make an impact on others abroad, wherever life takes her.

While most people may see COVID-19 as a setback, Ruchika Goel, a recent BYU Marriott School of Business MBA alum, saw the pandemic as the universe telling her to start a company. This isn’t the first time Goel has taken risks: six years ago, she left her home country of India and moved to America. Starting her own company during a global pandemic seemed doable too.