News Releases 

BYU Marriott MPA alum Ed Thatcher grew up on a farm, and he learned that farming was long, hard work. Though many enjoy the lifestyle, Thatcher decided living on a farm wasn’t for him.

Throughout his ninety years, MPA alum Karl Snow has used his experiences to serve the community in many ways: working for the Utah state government, BYU Marriott, and South African humanitarian projects.

When Patricia Wilson thinks about her hometown in Cali, Colombia, she remembers the fruit: fresh mangoes, ripe bananas pulled directly off the trees, and her favorite—maracujá—also known as passion fruit. While Wilson loved many aspects of Cali, she left in 1993 and moved to Provo to pursue her college education. Two decades later, she returned to BYU as an employee, where she now works as the business manager for the School of Accountancy (SOA) at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Receiving an award in Gary C. Cornia's name felt personally meaningful to Sally Wallace, especially since Cornia is one of her role models. Wallace, the dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University (GSU), was honored as this year's Gary C. Cornia Lecture Series Award recipient at a banquet held on October 28, 2021. Cornia was a former dean of the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Two student teams from the BYU Marriott School of Business traveled to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and walked away with four top-two finishes at the 2021 Purdue HR Case Competition this month. The annual competition tasks human resource students across the country with presenting an analysis of a prevalent HR issue.

When visitors enter a LEGO store, they are often treated to elaborate designs painstakingly put together to represent favorite characters, movies, games, architectural wonders, and more. When BYU Marriott senior Megan Atkisson visited a London LEGO store in 2018 on a study abroad trip, she instead focused on learning the blueprint for how to build her dream career in employee experience design.

During summer 2021, an estimated 75,000 accounting graduates across the United States took a 16-hour exam to become a licensed certified public accountant (CPA). The CPA exam is a rigorous test, with passing rates ranging from 46 to 60 percent. Two accounting alumni from the BYU Marriott School of Business, Kathrine Jensen and Jared Nielsen, not only passed the CPA exam but aced all four sections and received one of the most prestigious recognitions in accounting: the Elijah Watt Sells Award. 

When Camilla Hodge graduated from BYU with a degree in communications, she never imagined she would return to the university 14 years later as a professor. Hodge's life has been characterized by meaningful connections, including those that led to her career change and new teaching position at BYU Marriott.

While a trolley bus system has not been used in Utah for 75 years, an antique bus will soon be gracing the streets of Provo thanks to BYU Marriott entrepreneurship senior Afton Ellis Long.

As a faith-oriented school, the BYU Marriott School of Business incorporates religious principles as a fundamental part of students' learning. This unique component of a BYU Marriott education was magnified recently as visiting fellows from the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation helped students understand how they can bring their whole souls to the workplace and foster religious freedom and diversity.

Ten years ago, Chad Lewis successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, but he’s accomplished more than just reaching the summit of one of the world’s tallest peaks. Years later, his mountain-conquering experience encouraged him to continue to make and achieve his goals. Now, his goal is to earn his EMPA at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

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.