Dual Degree in Education ( MA ) and Business ( MBA): Student Profiles
Andrew Garland 
MBA/MA
Present position
Project Director, Policy and Research
The New Teacher Project (http://www.tntp.org/)
In my current position, I work with urban school districts and teachers' unions nationwide to improve teacher hiring, transfer, and evaluation processes in order to recruit and retain more, better teachers in high-need urban schools.
Areas of interest
Equity in urban public education
In the dual degree program, I focused my studies on policy, finance, and quantitative research techniques in urban public education.
What I learned in the dual degree program
I gained a combination of academic learning and practical experience in administration and education. The program gave me a strong grounding in education policy, advanced research techniques, financial analysis, management, and strategic planning, and combined this foundation with practical applications in private and non-profit settings. While in the dual degree program, I designed a strategic growth plan for a local charter school, created a marketing strategy for Whirlpool Romania's product line, shadowed the Michigan State Director of the Nature Conservancy, performed multi-level analysis of Chicago student data alongside one of the field's foremost statistical researchers, negotiated facilities contracts with Oakland Unified School District for a charter school management organization, coordinated an international field of speakers for Ross's 2006 Urban Symposium, published a policy brief on the "Base of the Pyramid" in Ethiopia, presented worldwide distribution plans for new water purification technology to executives from Procter and Gamble, wrote a legal complaint against the State of Michigan about the disrepair of its public schools, and more. The program's combination of rigorous academics and practical application is its greatest attribute.
Prior to the dual degree program
I coordinated emergency food distribution programs in nomadic regions of Ethiopia, led a nationwide sensitization campaign for street children in Congo-Brazzaville, organized reluctant voters for a presidential campaign in a New Hampshire winter, and taught high school drama. The latter, of course, was the most challenging.
Marc Lavine 
Master's Specialty Area: Educational Studies, Teacher
Education
.
Present Position:Doctoral Candidate and Instructor, Department of Organization Studies, Carroll School of Management, Boston College
In my current work I continue to teach and learn about leadership development. I also do research related to business ethics and corporate social responsibility. My fundamental interest is in what enables extraordinary performance in organizations with a strong social mission. I explored these issues in depth when I collaborated with Kim Cameron in co-authoring the book Making the Impossible Possible: Leading Extraordinary Performance (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) chronicling the dynamics of extraordinary organizational performance in the context of the largest and most complex nuclear cleanup in world history—The Rocky Flats nuclear arsenal in Colorado that was closed far ahead of schedule, under-budget and to a cleaner standard than projected.
Areas of interest
While in the dual degree program I had the chance to look in depth at high school reform efforts, particularly charter and alternative school initiatives and the issues and challenges surrounding the expansion, replication, or scale-up of such efforts. My other area of emphasis was leadership development as it related to teaching, school administration or management of “social enterprises.”
What I learned in the dual degree program
An immense amount! I gained a solid “toolkit” of management skills coupled with the chance to deeply consider an array of critical educational issues from diverse perspectives such as leadership, pedagogy, and policy. I also found that my coursework in education helped inform my management training and vice-versa. I am grateful for the particular learning that came from pursuing these degrees in tandem.
I also had numerous hands-on learning opportunities. I consulted for the education reform organization The Big Picture, helping with their organizational scale-up efforts. I served on the board of the Nonprofit and Public Management Center. As a former teacher, I worked for the School of Education’s Elementary Teacher Training Program as a Field Instructor, helping to train aspiring teachers while defraying some of my tuition costs. I also collaborated with faculty on research related to public sector leadership, ethics, and extraordinary organizational performance. It was the combination of college level teaching experience and involvement with faculty research that motivated me to pursue a career in academe.
Prior to the dual degree program
I helped manage and start youth-serving nonprofit organizations in the U.S and abroad over the course of a decade. These organizations focused on agricultural education, community development, economic development/job training, and leadership development. I also worked as an elementary school Spanish teacher and ran an in-school program for “at-risk” middle school students.
Rishi Moudgil 
MBA/MA
Areas of interest
Bridge between K-12 and higher education; human capital and leadership development throughout the education system; intersection of private, public, and policy sectors; leveraging community resources; innovation in learning and scaling successful opportunities
Professional experience since starting the program
I had a wonderful experience working at the Chicago Public Education Fund through the Fund fellowship program (http://www.cpef.org/fundfellows.htm). The Fund is the Midwest's only venture philanthropy organization. It utilizes venture principals and dollars to invest in high-impact programs that improve school leadership and student achievement system-wide. The fund represents a unique partnership between Chicago Public Schools (the nation’s third-largest school district), top businesses, and the Mayor's office.
My project enabled The Fund’s managers to understand what objectives and goals would be feasible as they prepared to launch their next multi-million dollar investment fund. This required significant knowledge of urban education issues such as teacher certification, principal recruitment and training, and turnaround strategies as well as business acumen on topics such as cost projection analysis, the articulation of business assumptions, and assessing value gained per investment dollar.
Working with The Fund represented a great opportunity to see the inner-workings of a district with a $6 billion annual budget, interact with thought leaders and practitioners, and learn a great deal about urban education.
What I learned in the dual degree program
Being a part of the University of Michigan is a special experience and it is particularly valuable when you are able to interact with multiple graduate programs simultaneously. The business and education programs both offer unique opportunities to explore the academic and practical side of their fields. There is a growing demand for people with skills in both areas, and the dual degree program has equipped me to meet those challenges.
Prior to the dual degree program
I worked in various capacities in higher education including program and curriculum development, student services, strategy, and implementation planning. I also managed an economic development program for the State of Michigan, founded a non-profit focused on mentoring and tutoring between K-5 and college students, and explored entrepreneurial opportunities in the private sector.
Leena Ray 
MBA/MA
Areas of interest
K-12 education reform with a focus on improving the quality of the educational experience for disadvantaged youth; ensuring equity of educational opportunities regardless of socio-economic background or family structure
Present position
Bay Area Director of Alumni Affairs
Teach For America (TFA)
San Francisco, California
In this role I will ensure Teach For America meets its goals in the areas of school leadership, political leadership, and alumni engagement by serving as a resource for alumni and supporting them in their chosen endeavors regardless of whether or not their intended roles directly include impacting the achievement gap.
Teach For America has 12,000 alumni nationwide, about 830 of whom live in the Bay Area and 60% of whom work in a career geared toward closing the achievement gap.
What I learned in the dual degree program
The program has provided me with a strong academic background and a wealth of experience in the fields of education and business. Through coursework in the School of Education I developed a better understanding of issues such as why the achievement gap exists and what empirically-proven indicators impact it, how education administrations function, what school leadership entails, and at what level and in what ways intervention strategies can affect schools.
While in the program I created the Education Management Club within the Ross School of Business. This 30-student club promotes awareness of business and education issues among the broader business community. I also served on the Board of Trustees of the Friends School of Detroit and as Net Impact’s Vice-President of Curriculum, promoted opportunities through programming, panels, and career treks and corresponded with prospective students.
During the summer of 2007 I worked as a summer associate for the Huron Consulting Group (http://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/). In this role I worked for a major research university on projects geared toward discerning the university’s sources of federal non-federal funding and creating its annual report.
During the summer of 2006 I worked for the Washington, D.C. public school district as a Broad Foundation Summer Resident (http://www.broadresidency.org/). In this role I reported to the Deputy Director of Human Resources and worked on a staffing restructuring project for the district’s central office.
Prior to the dual degree program
I worked in marketing at American Express. I also volunteered in the New York City Public Schools through the Kaplan New York Cares tutoring program and through Junior Achievement, a kindergarten intervention program.
Ali Shriberg
Present position
After working with organizations in educational and training roles, I moved to Boston, my hometown, and started a corporate training business called Speak and Write Clearly. I conduct soft-skill training for executives on topics such as public speaking, presentation delivery, and communication skills. I contract with companies such as Dale Carnegie and Monster.com and also work with groups to teach a variety of topics. My dual degree continues to serve me well as I establish myself in this industry as an independent contractor.
I also run a tutoring business through which I work with students from grades 5 through graduate school. I enjoy the diversity of working with younger kids, who are so much fun, and graduate students, who have such challenging and interesting assignments. I also teach 7th and 8th grade at my temple. The tutoring and religious school work allows me to stay connected to the younger kids while the corporate training primarily targets adults.
Areas of interest
K-12 education with an emphasis on early reading and literacy
What I learned in the dual degree program
I learned a great deal from the dual degree program. On a content level, I learned the fundamentals of business and K-12 administration and policy. My studies at the business and education schools often overlapped and allowed me to incorporate my understanding of each field into the other. Further, the variety of the work requirements enabled me to broaden my academic skills. As a co-founder of the program, I also learned a lot about implementing change at a large institution.
Prior to the dual degree program
Prior to graduate school, I worked for five years at Score Educational Centers, a company that runs after-school tutoring centers across the country. At Score I served in several capacities. I ran one of the company’s educational centers, standardized operations at the corporate level, and managed a region of centers.
Steven Small 
MBA/MA
Areas of interest
Equity in public education
Present position
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
TEAM Schools, A Network of KIPP Schools
http://www.teamschools.org
http://www.kipp.org
In this role I oversee finance and operations for three of the highest-performing urban schools in the country while playing an important role in planning and executing the organization’s strategic expansion. TEAM Schools comprises two middle schools and a high school and we will open two elementary schools in the next three years. When these five schools reach full-enrollment they will provide over 2,000 students in Newark with world-class K-12 urban public education.
What I learned in the dual degree program
The academic knowledge and practical experience I gained in the dual degree program led me directly to my position with TEAM Schools. I found KIPP and TEAM Schools through a business school classmate and joined TEAM as an intern after my first year in the program. I agreed to join the organization as its Chief Financial Officer before returning to Michigan for my second year.
I focused my studies at the Ross School of Business on finance and organizational management and my studies within the School of Education on policy and administration. The dual degree program’s content and rigor prepared me well for the challenges I have faced in my current role. This position requires a strong background in business and education, a thorough understanding of organizational structures and growth, and the ability to make decisions and execute in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.
The dual degree program prepared me for this with a combination of academic knowledge and practical experience. While in the program I devised a strategy for the expansion of IBM’s Global Asset Recovery Services business into Base of the Pyramid markets, developed a product marketing and distribution strategy for Sally Ride Science Corporation, wrote a proposal seeking funding to disseminate proven teaching practices via the internet, served on the Board of Trustees of Ann Arbor Academy, a private non-profit school dedicated to helping students with learning disabilities, and lead a backpacking expedition through Iceland.
Prior to the dual degree program
I spent six years working at J.P. Morgan in New York City. I worked as an internal consultant, a banking analyst, and as an associate sales trader within the Private Bank. I advised high-net worth individuals on how to invest, grow, donate, and transfer their wealth and traded securities on their behalf. During this time I also volunteered as a tutor for middle and high school students and as a trainer of guide dogs and explosives detection dogs.
