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Millie Rapp reentered the workforce at a cement plant in rural West Texas, where the environment came with its quirks. “We had a bobcat that liked to eat the heads off birds,” she says. “After a rainstorm, I’d sometimes be walking through water with clear reminders of that—things were never boring.”

Air Force Major Corban Smith faced his own personal doomsday when he was told a medical condition would prevent him from becoming an Air Force pilot—a dream he’d had since he was a child. After being forced to alter his plans, he discovered a new path that’s led him to his current position as the operations flight commander and assistant professor at Brigham Young University’s Air Force ROTC.

The MBA program hosted an internal case competition during winter semester, giving students the opportunity to apply teamwork and problem-solving skills and compete for cash prizes. For some of the 78 MBA students who participated, this event was the first and only case competition they participated in.

More than 1,600 graduates walked across the stage in the Marriott Center during the April 2026 convocation ceremonies for the BYU Marriott School of Business. At each ceremony, graduates were invited to embody BYU Marriott’s values and become Christlike leaders. 

When Maddie Jones, an information systems student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, opens her laptop to work on her homework, she often has five different AI models running at once. Although she first approached the new technology with some hesitancy, Jones—along with other students at BYU Marriott—has learned to embrace AI as a tool for learning.

“I’m of the mind that with AI now, we as faculty have to move the goalposts way out there,” says Scott Murff, an associate teaching professor of strategy at the BYU Marriott School of Business. As faculty integrate AI into their classrooms, they say they hope that their students will not only accomplish more, but that they will become more. “Instead of getting to the end of the road, now we want our students to go to the moon.”

The BYU Marriott School of Business honored selected faculty and staff at its April 2026 awards ceremony for their impact in exemplifying BYU Marriott's mission, vision, and values in both classroom and administrative work.

The MBA program at the BYU Marriott School of Business awarded six MBA students the 2026 Gary P. Williams Leadership Award. Students are nominated by peers as exemplary role models of leadership and receive a cash award of $10,000 in recognition of their efforts.

Nine MBA students from the BYU Marriott School of Business received the 2026 Hawes Scholars Award. The award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize, is one of the highest distinctions given to graduating MBA students at BYU Marriott.

Each year, the George E. Stoddard Prize is awarded to MBA students at the BYU Marriott School of Business who are pursuing careers in finance and have displayed leadership and academic excellence.

Ten first-year MBA students at the BYU Marriott School of Business with a strong interest and commitment to international business were recognized as the 2026 Eccles Scholars by the Whitmore Global Business Center (GBC). Through the generosity of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Eccles Scholars are awarded a paid international business experience and up to $2,000.

A desire to conduct research sent experience design and management (ExDM) students Autumn Tolman and Hannah Knowlton on a flight across the world. Their journey in the Netherlands—the two BYU Marriott School of Business students explain—has changed their fundamental understanding of experience design and provided an opportunity for them to share their findings.

When BYU Marriott students feel nervous about going into the workforce, Zach Wright says he knows exactly how they feel. Drawing on his own experiences, he advises students to stay open to opportunities as they work toward their career goals.

MBA students walked out of the Marketing Futures Summit, hosted by the BYU Marriott School of Business, with a PVC pipe and a branded hoodie in hand. Aside from providing participants with some BYU Marriott swag, the event offered students the opportunity to both network with recent MBA alumni and develop professional skills.

When BYU Marriott student Michael Liu did the math, he didn’t like what he saw. Liu had spent the first 16 years of his life in Beijing and Taiwan, dreaming of going to college in the United States. He added up the costs of college one night—and his dream suddenly seemed impossible. Discouraged, he said a prayer. “I think the answer God told me was that everything would be okay,” he says. “But honestly, in that moment, my faith wasn’t quite there yet.” Still, Liu decided he didn’t want to let go of his dream without giving it his best shot.

Jeff Ferrell and Benn Manning lost $110,000 worth of taco mac and cheese in a single manufacturing mishap. For these two founders of the frozen meal company Counter, this was just one of the many trials they’ve faced. But as keynote speakers of the 2026 SMB ETA Conference hosted by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Ferrell and Manning shared that relying on God throughout their journey helps them grow both personally and professionally.

BYU Marriott student Shane Sykes describes himself as a dentist by training and an adventurer at heart. Above all, he prioritizes spending time with his family—and regardless of the cost or time commitment, he says it's worth it.

For BYU student Katie Young, the biggest lesson she learned from helping run the Community Compassion Collective was simple: social networks matter. Young, a student employee at the Ballard Center for Social Impact in the BYU Marriott School of Business, spent 13 weeks leading the pilot program that connects people experiencing homelessness with local community members.

For students at Brigham Young University, starting a family and seeking creative ways to pay for school aren’t necessarily unique experiences—but they were transformative for BYU Marriott School of Business strategy student Dustin Hubnik. As he prepares to graduate, he reflects on the motivation he has found from deciding to embrace challenges.

As BYU Marriott student Caleb Jones tackles tricky topics in his GSCM classes, being personally accountable is his priority. Jones says this proactive approach has helped him grow and apply the things he learns to his studies as well as his personal life.