News Releases 

Katie Weddle doesn’t remember much from the accident that almost took her life. Serving as a missionary in Malaysia, Weddle was riding her bike with other sister missionaries when she was hit by a car.  

While on a business trip in Shanghai, Kurt Brown discussed business opportunities and social needs in the area with a friend. The pair recognized the potential to improve working conditions for local factory workers and realized they could start a business to help meet that need. Their idea blossomed into an impact investing venture, a topic Brown also teaches as an adjunct professor in the Ballard Center for Social Impact at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

As woman in her 40s sitting in a lecture hall full of young students, Julie Glasgow could have easily felt intimidated. However, when she entered the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Glasgow decided to focus instead on taking charge of her college experience by sharpening her personal strengths and shaping her future.

BYU Marriott executive MBA student JohnPaul Parraga's day usually starts at 3:30 a.m. with a morning workout. His dedication to his fitness goals is a reflection of his committed approach to life in general, including recently achieving a career goal he has worked toward for 25 years.

When he thinks about his future goals, Wilson Moreno hopes to become a leader who makes an impact—in his family, his community, and his local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thankfully, Moreno's time spent in the Cardon International Sponsorship (CIS) program, run by the Whitmore Global Business Center (GBC) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, prepared him for these leadership roles.

For new BYU Marriott School of Business assistant accounting professor Travis Dyer, teaching is more than a job; it’s a passion. As he educates students on the intricacies of financial statements and disclosures, Dyer also hopes to teach students about the complexities of life and the importance of learning from difficulties. 

Angela Baxter has held BYU track records, run at the Olympic trials, been an international student, and raised five children. She uses these and many other diverse experiences to help everyone feel welcome at the BYU Marriott School of Business, where she works as an undergraduate advisor.

Standing in the heart of Curitiba, Brazil, as a 20-year-old missionary, Preston Haight had no idea what his next step in life would be. Approaching the end of his mission, he was only certain about two things: he loved baseball, and he had a job waiting for him at the surf shop where he had worked before his mission. From that uncertainty, Haight recalls specific people entering his life who divinely guided him to a passion he eventually became certain about—the marketing program at the BYU Marriott School of Business.  

Thirty experience design and management students traveled to Europe this summer to climb glaciers, see puffins, and participate in immersive games and performances. These activities were part of a BYU Marriott School of Business study abroad program dedicated to furthering students’ understanding of how to design memorable experiences.

As a teenage boy, C. Todd Linton fell in love with the airplanes that flew overhead near his home next to the old Denver Stapleton Airport. He spent hours learning and memorizing details of each model. This love eventually led him to a lifelong career as a pilot, which started at the BYU Air Force ROTC (AFROTC), hosted by the BYU Marriott School of Business aerospace studies program.  

After failing BYU Marriott’s introductory marketing class, Trapper Denton initially decided that marketing was not for him. However, encouraged by his wife, he retook the course. Thanks to that perseverance, Denton has now found his place in the marketing world and helps other students do the same.  

When Staci Carroll came to the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2020 as the manager of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, she looked forward to sharing her life experiences in that area. In her role with the Deans Office, Carroll feels grateful for opportunities to talk with and support students. She also enjoys learning from the experiences of everyone around her and incorporating those lessons into her personal life.

Marcelo Souza always had a passion for education while growing up in Brazil. He set a goal as a teenager to earn an advanced degree from BYU, which he accomplished when he graduated with an MBA in 2005. The lessons Souza learned at the BYU Marriott School of Business not only helped him adjust to a new culture, they also helped him become a better businessman and reinforce his top priorities of family and religion.

Justin Giboney, a professor of information systems (IS) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, routinely sends summer camp students to outer space. Each July for two weeks, high school students from the ages of 13 to 18 flock to BYU campus to attend the cybersecurity camp he leads. When the participants arrive, Giboney sets up a starship simulator in the basement of the Crabtree Technology Building and lets the students navigate through space using a series of cybersecurity challenges. 

During his early career in the United States military, Master Sergeant Wesley Gipson served multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan under the harshest and most demanding of circumstances.  At the time of his deployments, Gipson could not have predicted that he would later share what he learned from those experiences with young cadets as the newest senior military science instructor at the BYU Marriott School of Business.  

As 2021 drew to a close, faculty members from colleges across the country boarded a plane and traveled to India, a country known not only for its history, vibrant culture, and beautiful architecture, but also for its role in global business. The trip, which was cosponsored by the Whitmore Global Business Center at the BYU Marriott School of Business, was designed to provide trip attendees with useful insights about international business.

Richard Amon, who graduated from the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2005, continually strives to help students in their pursuit of higher education. He now works as the vice chancellor of business affairs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

For Dane Bendixen, startup enthusiast and father of three, the values he found while studying entrepreneurship at the BYU Marriott School of Business have carried him throughout his career. One such value is prioritizing his family and personal life. After moving seven times in as many years for work, the 2010 graduate has become a firm believer in working for companies that fit the schedule and lifestyle he wants for himself and his family.

For the past few years, Amy Densley's family has enjoyed the delicious, hot-out-of-the-oven products of her breadmaking hobby. Similarly, as the assistant program director for the finance department at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Densley brings a warmth to the people around her, including alumni, current students, and her fellow staff and faculty members.

Jen Almond was playing a trivia game along with other students during the BYU Marriott School of Business’s new-student orientation when a question popped up that she knew she could answer correctly: “How old is the oldest student in this class?” The answers provided were 20, 32, and 34. Almond, age 34 at the time, realized she was the oldest person in her information systems cohort.