News Releases 

Even masks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic can't stop McKenzie Rees from memorizing the faces—at least the upper half—and names of all her students. The human resource management professor has built her career on connecting with people and their stories, a tradition she looks forward to continuing as a new professor at BYU Marriott.

As a part of this year's Homecoming celebrations, BYU presented an Alumni Achievement Award to Brandon Robinson, a 2009 BYU Marriott MBA graduate. Robinson received the award for his distinguished career in the financial service industry and his efforts to serve his local New York City community.

Eduardo Dallagnese's wedding day was memorable in more ways than one. Shortly after getting married in the Porto Alegre Brazil Temple, he received a long-awaited call from the admissions office of the BYU Marriott School of Business. The call informed him that he had received the Cardon International Scholarship (CIS) from the Whitmore Global Business Center (GBC) and that he was accepted into the school's MBA program.

When Sam Lentz moved to California to work full-time for KPMG, one of his first clients was Apple Inc. Around the same time Lentz began his new job, Apple released its first iPhone, a day he remembers vividly. Similar to how Apple's iPhone has evolved over time into today's iconic gadget, Lentz, a class of 2007 information systems (IS) alum, reflects on his personal growth and how he's changed during his career since graduating from the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Jennifer Tinkham, a JD/MPA alumna of the BYU Marriott School of Business, understands the power of a simple smile to change the world. As an educator, Tinkham shares the joy of smiles, service, and education with her students at BYU–Hawaii.

BYU Athletics made headlines this summer with program-wide Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals brokered for the football team and all female athletes. Now they’re working with BYU’s world-class Marriott School of Business to take the next step in NIL innovation.

The office door of BYU Marriott School of Business professor Jim Brau is always open. Brau, an Airborne Ranger Army veteran, believes making connections with his students is the most important part of his job. He continually strives to facilitate moments where he can create those connections. Brau’s consistency in leaving the door open through the years has resulted in countless opportunities to serve those around him.

In 2004, Shereen Salah and her husband, Ahmad, moved from Cairo to Provo where they both began attending BYU. After graduating with her master's degree in language acquisition and teaching, Salah accepted a position at BYU as an adjunct professor. Now she teaches a business Arabic class at the BYU Marriott School of Business, and she enjoys supporting her students as they participate in competitions hosted by the Whitmore Global Business Center.

BYU students seeking to make a difference in the world no longer need to choose between pursuing a fulfilling career or a well-paid profession. Todd Manwaring, director and founder of the Ballard Center for Social Impact, shares that across the world, nonprofit organizations are merging with corporate businesses to maximize the long-term positive impact created through philanthropic efforts. This adjustment has created the need for updated instruction among academic institutions, and the Ballard Center combined with the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics, housed in the BYU Marriott School of Business, is rising to the challenge.  

From the mountains to the sea to BYU’s Tanner building, Lina Abdallah is always searching for new ways to see the world and the people who live in it. She attributes much of this desire to the time she spent at the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business—an experience that led her to work for the World Bank, first in the West Bank and Gaza country office, and more recently in Jordan.

Gamma Alpha, the BYU Marriott School of Business chapter of Beta Alpha Psi was recently recognized internationally by the Beta Alpha Psi Board of Directors as a Superior Chapter.

Growing up, Nathan Twyman possessed a knack for breaking software—his presentations crashed machines, his files ruined file structures, and his data entry caused websites to malfunction. As a student at BYU, Twyman realized how breaking business systems could be beneficial. Now, as an assistant professor of information systems (IS) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Twyman shows his students how to use reasoning to prevent their own projects from failing.

Since graduating from the MPA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, alumna Jackie Suggitt has worked at both a company with 1.5 million employees and a nonprofit with twelve employees. Whether she’s driving social change from Walmart headquarters or a nonprofit board meeting, she aims to create a more sustainable future for the planet. Currently, she’s working to help industries to reduce their food waste, one milk carton or loaf of bread at a time.

As Lady Ikeya prepared to move from Nigeria to Provo in December 2020 with her husband and four children to pursue her MPA degree from the BYU Marriott School of Business, she was touched by the tender mercies from God and acts of kindness she received from complete strangers. One example was the Cardon International Scholarship (CIS) from BYU Marriott’s Whitmore Global Business Center, which made her journey to BYU possible in the first place.

After spending most of his time as an undergraduate student preparing for law school, Kurt Herrmann received surprising inspiration to change career paths. This sudden shift in plans started a long road through marketing, entrepreneurship, business consulting, and ultimately to the BYU Marriott School of Business as an adjunct professor of management.

A day of work for BYU Marriott School of Business alum Tanner Clawson might look different than what most people assume someone in “business” does. Through the Ballard Center for Social Impact at BYU Marriott, Clawson’s career in business has led him across the globe, helping with projects that are solving pressing social issues.

Since completing a social impact internship in Mexico City in 2012, Nathan Noble has charted a career path dedicated to serving others and helping people in need. The BYU Marriott School of Business entrepreneurship alumnus still feels the ripples of his foundational experiences during his time at BYU Marriott in his current efforts to reimagine and improve the lives of foster children.

Seniors in the human resource management program at the BYU Marriott School of Business will gain valuable industry experience through a unique class this fall. HRM 421: HRM Implementation pairs students with companies and asks the students to help solve workplace problems. This hands-on approach to learning is designed to help seniors sharpen résumés and learn valuable skills.

The first time Matthew Alexander seriously pitched one of his products, he swam with the sharks. The time he spent preparing to pitch his invention, Illumibowl, on the ABC show Shark Tank, among other learning experiences, taught him important lessons about entrepreneurship. Now, as a mentor for the Rollins Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Alexander strives to share his wisdom with aspiring student entrepreneurs.

This summer, Walmart challenged four BYU Marriott School of Business students to create a sustainable alternative for a supply chain process through an internship with the school’s Ballard Center for Social Impact. These social impact projects (SIPs) enable students from all disciplines to create lasting solutions to global challenges.