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Being a police chief is a challenging position to hold, but BYU Marriott helped prepare Darren Paul, Chad Soffe, and Chris Autry to serve the communities they love.
In 1965, Ken Driggs was in his second year of graduate school. When he wasn't juggling his school responsibilities, Driggs hid his identity as he pulled on the cougar suit and transformed into Cosmo.
As the deputy director for the Utah Department of Corrections, BYU Marriott MPA alum Chyleen Richey helps run a city of people who are forgotten by society.
MPA alumnus Scott Sellers is inspiring national change through his efforts to connect university students to local government.
When Utah’s Office of the State Auditor wanted to create an early-warning system to identify cities with weakening fiscal health, state officials applied to be a client in BYU Marriott’s GoodMeasure program.
Not many people stick to the dreams they had when they were five, but Kena Mathews has the opportunity on a daily basis to see her childhood calling to make a difference in the world become reality.
When Hani Almadhoun returned to Provo in February, he had a handful of items on his must-do list. First, take his wife and two young daughters to the BYU Creamery for a Raspberries & Cream Cheese ice-cream cone.
After improving the election process in Utah and a push from friends, Kelleen Potter is seeking success as the mayor of Heber City.
When Hani Almadhoun, a Muslim from Palestine, attended BYU, he found many Mormon friends. One of his favorite stories of his time on campus is how his Mormon friends often introduced him to others.
Todd Tapp's decision to leave his comfort zone will undoubtedly shape his entire career.
Kristin Yee landed her dream job, successfully working her artistic talents at Disney. But after 13 years, an impression directed her to a new line of work at a very different organization.
As part of a new series, the Ballard Center is giving students the opportunity to ask alumni questions and career advice. This piece features Jeff Roberts of Self-Reliance Services/PEF.
Alfred Gantner, cofounder of Partners Group and an MBA alum, shared his insights on a balanced life as the featured speaker at convocation on 28 April.
MPA alum Kena Jo Mathews has built her life around volunteer and nonprofit work, though she started out on a different path. “Sometimes you end up where you’re supposed to be even if you don’t realize that’s where you want to be,” she says. While studying political science at the University of Utah, Mathews worked for a senatorial candidate. But when he lost the election, she changed course, volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, where she laid the foundation for her career.
“Reach for the stars” is a figurative goal for most of us, but for Kevin Watts, a 1986 graduate of the BYU Masters of Public Administration program, it is an everyday reality.
A group of seasoned farmers sit facing Rebecca Loveland, a recent college grad in her mid-twenties, as she leads their discussion on everything from daily planning to marketing to an upcoming potato audit. Loveland feels inexperienced but plows forward, relying on the leadership skills she developed with her Marriott School training to make decisions and collaborate effectively.
By day, Arie Van De Graaff is a public servant, but by night he is an accomplished cartoonist.
It seems like only a few years ago that I sat where you are sitting. I was an English major, and that meant that I liked reading and writing. It also meant that I had no idea what I was going to do with my career.
The Sound of Music swept the box office, Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands to Alabama’s capital, and the first commercial satellite launched into orbit. The year was 1965, and the BYU MPA students of the inaugural class were collecting their diplomas and preparing to embody the credo “Enter to learn; go forth to serve.”
Being a soldier in the armed forces can be physically and emotionally demanding. As an army chaplain, MPA alum Lt. Col. Thomas Helms has been offering soldiers moral support and religious services for nearly two decades.
It reads like a worst-case scenario: you’re slicing through rough air to check on an offshore oil rig when the unfathomable happens—the chopper goes down. Would you survive?
By gaining the ear of the Canadian government, alum Ken Kyle helped snuff out the light of tobacco companies in his home country. And the effects of his work are still filtering across the world.
Playing the part of butcher Lazar Wolf in Fiddler on the Roof came naturally to 1983 MPA alum Chris Miasnik: his last name is made up of the Russian occupational suffix and the word for meat. But there were a few other factors involved in landing the role of rejected suitor in the Bluffdale Arts Council production. “I was the oldest guy there, and I had the whitest beard,” he admits.
When Jackie Saumweber joined the BYU MPA program, she didn't know she would find her niche in corporate social responsibility.