The UCLA Anderson community is enriched by the business expertise and cultural knowledge of students, faculty, donors and staff with extensive international experience in regions across Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Pacific Islands and North America.
ASA EVP Jennifer Bae tells Poets & Quants, "What really sold me was that when I visited Anderson, it honestly, just felt right"
Ten new companies make their public debut at the Spring Showcase
Lisa Liu interned at Facebook on the company’s strategic planning and analytics team in the data center.
The Haskamp Effect
2018 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Ryan Tan (UCLA-NUS EMBA ’19)
Entrepreneur Michael Lui (’10) founded a mission-driven startup and is developing a topical pain reliever as a safe alternative to opioids
The bio-custom skin care line took top honors and $15,000. Team MiVue wins inaugural Muse Innovation Award
A first-year MBA learns the ropes and builds trust at UCLA Anderson orientation
For Daniel Tsai, it's all about family. And love.
His daughter is a 2017 graduate of the Anderson School of Management, but it was another one of his children and a medical miracle that first forged the connection between benefactor Daniel Tsai and UCLA.
“UCLA saved my son,” Tsai says.
L&L Barbecue's Elisia Flores ('14) took her family's business in delicious new directions
Entertainment industry pro Vicki Liao ('11) reengaged with Anderson as she commits to prosocial causes
Media veteran Sylvia Saw McKaige (’11) raises journalism standards in Myanmar
Rashmi Chaturvedi's ('15) Kaygen Inc. receives USPAACC Excellence Award as a Fast 100 Asian-American business
John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Sana Rahim ('19) says her roots challenged and motivated her
Mike Kim ('17) and Theo Lee ('17) developed KPOP Foods to honor their heritage and delight their friends
Kota Uyeda (’19)
President of HBA
I am a health care fellow with the UCLA Technology Development Group, and I served as president of UCLA Anderson’s Healthcare Business Association.
Success is living a life of purpose and having a positive impact on those around you.
I wanted to add to my business skill set and learn from classmates with a wide range of experiences ― to understand the different lenses through which people see the world. It is important to understand our unconscious biases and work across differences in morality, culture and individual experiences.
One of my fondest moments at Anderson was traveling to Chile for our capstone field study project. My team and I learned first hand how complex and nuanced the grape industry is. We all brought different skills and backgrounds to the table, which helped us produce a comprehensive recommendation to our client. We also had a blast visiting vineyards, stargazing in the desert and eating traditional Chilean BBQ.
Stay curious. Develop a growth mindset and broaden your thinking, whether through continued education or deep conversations with friends. Become a better manager by caring and being curious about the people you work with.
The potential of personalized medicine. With continued progress in understanding the human genome, diagnostics and the social determinants of health, the treatment and prevention of illnesses will rapidly improve ― particularly where traditional interventions tailored to developed countries are too generic to effectively solve medical problems in underrepresented communities. I am excited to see how advances in technology will accelerate the growth and reach of personalized health care solutions domestically and globally.
Jasmine X. Guo (’19)
President of AMSA
I’m a talent acquisition professional with a volunteer spirit. The philosophy that guides where I want to invest my time and energy is based on Gandhi’s mantra, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Success is knowing you did your best, while being your best self, to achieve any goal you’ve set, while remembering to spread love and positivity along the way.
The MBA is a personal investment to grow as a compassionate and self-aware leader, as well as develop the business acumen and strength to exercise my voice at the table. In these two golden years I established relationships with such strong, humbling, intellectually curious and authentic individuals.
Serving as president of the Asian Management Student Association was a highlight of my Anderson experience! AMSA is the largest and oldest identity organization at Anderson — it was incredibly fulfilling to use this platform to create a network of engaged students, alumni and prominent business leaders who are interested in initiatives that affect Asian-Americans in business as well as the cultural community.
The Riordan MBA Fellows Program shed light on the importance of starting mentorship initiatives early. By spending high-quality time together, understanding my mentee’s mindset and goals, and sharing my relevant experiences, encouragement and insights, I was able to offer motivation to help her see that the world is her oyster.
I admire and respect LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s philosophy of leading with compassion. When I worked at LinkedIn, he taught me that while a manager tells you what to do, a leader inspires you to do it. We need successful leaders who can say, “That’s the mountain we’re going to climb together, this is the reason we’re climbing it, this is why it’s never been done, and this is why we’re going to be successful.”
Van T. Nguyen (FEMBA ’19)
Co-Founder U-Defi
Co-Founder, U-Defi
A biotech entrepreneur and former project manager, I co-founded U-Defi, an award-winning personalized skin care product scientifically formulated to an individual’s unique skin biomarker.
When someone has the courage to go outside defined boundaries, whether in an established company or in a garage, to come up with new and innovative solutions to real-world problems.
The UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator helped our company to sharpen our business pitches, marketing strategy and business model. It enabled us to leverage UCLA-wide resources such as the Magnify Lab. And the Accelerator introduced us to the broader startup ecosystem in Southern California.
The most encouraging milestone was winning the 2018 Knapp Venture Competition . It helped to validate our business plan, draw attention to our efforts and access resources that have propelled us forward. The challenge was not having lab space early on, which delayed our efforts to launch the beta test and product trial. If we were a software startup, we could have prototyped our product in a garage. As a science-based startup, we needed access to a lab to run samples and refine our algorithm.
Self-awareness. MBAs step into the business world equipped with skill sets to solve business challenges but, without being self-aware, we can’t know the areas in which we still need to grow and might need help.
Throughout my career, I’ve received sometimes conflicting advice on how to solve problems and what opportunities to take advantage of. The best piece of advice I’ve received is to choose which of those pieces of advice to take because, at the end of the day, I’m the person who knows my circumstances best.
Andrew Chan (B.S. ’05, ’13)
Manager, Deloitte Digital
Major, U.S. Army
Manager, Deloitte Digital
Major, U.S. Army
Getting an MBA was a part of my plan to transition from active military service to pursue a career aligned with technology. I graduated from UCLA with a degree in mechanical engineering, was stationed in Korea and deployed to Iraq. At Anderson, I was able to combine my technology undergraduate training with my military leadership and management experience, while gaining an underlying business foundation.
Being part of the Deloitte Digital team has allowed me to see how pervasive the digital world is. More than ever, students should be acutely aware that their name will be their brand, especially in the business world. Personal brand management and the management of your professional brand as you engage with diverse audiences worldwide is a key skill Anderson should be teaching today.
Never stop learning. I see it every day as the digital world evolves and inspires new possibilities. Continuing education is essential in challenging your point of view and expanding your mind. I grow through industry updates, Twitter and even courses like the Command and General Staff course that the military provides. Always seek to learn and grow through continuing education.
In the army I had the opportunity to lead more than 200 troops. I learned that when time is limited, it’s better to move forward with 80 percent of the information than to wait for all of it and possibly miss critical deadlines. That lesson directly translated to success in group projects and presentations. Being in the military gave me the confidence to take action. That was definitely helpful when working through case studies and group leadership opportunities.
Bo Cross ('16)
Operations Manager, Lyft
Lieutenant Junior Grade, U.S. Navy
Operations Lead, Lyft
Lieutenant Junior Grade, U.S. Navy
Success is being happy with the delta between where you started and where you are now.
After the Navy, I wanted to build a good foundation of business knowledge to tie in with my leadership experience I gained in the military. I wanted to be as confident in my business skills as I was with my people skills and my Anderson experience helped me achieve that goal. In fact, I can honestly say that, without my MBA, I wouldn’t be able to do my job. Every day I use tools that I learned in class, and it has allowed me to personally contribute to the growth of Lyft, which is really gratifying!
Every day, people are asked to make decisions in scenarios where there’s lots of data and facts that may actually be irrelevant. A skill that students today can certainly utilize is the ability to sift through this noise. Don’t be too quick to make a judgement, simply based on what you initially see or hear. Make sure you understand the scenario, the people you are interacting with, the entire picture before making a judgment at first glance.
If you get knocked down, get back up. In the military, you are judged by the outcome, so it’s important to finish what you start, even if you encounter obstacles along the way. At Officer Candidate School I learned that, no matter how difficult things got, it was only temporary. I now know that with persistence you can push through any barrier to achieve the outcome you desire.
My experience as a veteran encouraged me to be fearless when it came to challenging myself by putting myself in uncomfortable situations. During orientation week, I found other veterans and built a connection based on our common experiences. In addition to that welcome camaraderie, my military experience gave me an overall confidence to share my point of view in class, to speak in front of groups, and to stay calm during the routine homework and final exam "fire drills".
Whether evaluating new models for microfinance, improving foreign supply chain efficiency or evaluating growth and expansion strategies, UCLA Anderson's pro-social international field study projects make a real, immediate and often profound impact.
In collaboration with IDEO, an MBA field study team explored human-centered design solutions for low-income women in countries around the globe
UCLA Anderson MBA team and Conservation International partnered to benefit communities and businesses by protecting nature
We are researching how to promote foreign investment in conflict-affected zones in Southeast Asia, focusing on Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar.
Guy Kawasaki ('79)
Expert advice for fellow entrepreneurs from the UCLA Anderson Inspirational 100 alumnus who changed technology marketing
Indra Nooyi
The chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, who received Anderson's John Wooden Global Leadership Award, shares wisdom about her company's global strategy
Gurcharan Das
The best-selling author and management guru explains why business leaders' humility is more important than their intelligence
Paul Hsieh (Ph.D. '70), Yvonne Hsieh ('03) and David Schumacher ('03) celebrated Dr. Hsieh's 80th birthday with a gift to name the Hsieh Family Foyer in the new Marion Anderson Hall
Hangzhou-born former journalist Chenjie Ding ('19) chimed in with fellow MBA students on International Women's Day, finding unity amid cultural distinctions
UCLA Anderson students celebrates Lunar New Year at Anderson Afternoons, complete with traditions like the Chinese lion dance
The annual Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Conference explores the challenges and opportunities in U.S.-China cross-border business and investment
From UCLA Anderson Review and in the News