Welcoming TMMBA Class 19
New students mingle at the Welcome Reception
Last week marked the official program kick-off for the Technology Management MBA (TMMBA) Program Class of 2020. On the evening of November 2, the entire cohort of new students gathered at the UW Seattle campus for the Welcome Reception to meet each other, their professors and the rest of the TMMBA team.
A highlight of the night was the much anticipated reveal of the study groups – five to six students who will work together for the first half of the program. Study groups are a foundational component of the TMMBA curriculum. Teams are comprised of diverse students who represent various industries, functions, and experiences and complete group projects, collaborate on deliverables and presentations, prep case discussions, and provide support for one another.
A Part of the Foster Family
Current student, Thomas Shafer, shares his words of wisdom to the new students.
The students received a warm welcome from the entire Foster community – including TMMBA Executive Director and 2007 TMMBA Alumna, Tracy Gojdics, as well as current student, Thomas Shafer (Software Engineer, Google), who shared words of wisdom and laid out the journey ahead full of collaboration, challenge and triumph.
They also heard from Foster School of Business Associate Dean of Master’s Programs, Dan Turner, who conveyed the essence of the Foster MBA culture:
Foster MBA Defining Principles
- We believe in team-driven difference. Inclusive, diverse teams produce more resilient thinking, find better solutions, and perform better than any collection of individuals could. At Foster, we know and understand that the power of team is not additive… it’s not multiplicative… it’s exponential.
- We embrace a learning and growth mentality. It’s not about where you are from or even where you are… it’s about where you are going. We consider all of the evidence, we make insight-informed decisions, we try new and sometimes risky things, and—sometimes—we make mistakes. But we learn how to do it better next time. We have a growth, and not a fixed, mindset that leads to better outcomes in the end.
- We strive to leave it better than we found it. We take the spirit of the Pacific NW to heart in that we recognize our shared responsibility to improve the world not just for ourselves but for others. We work to make our organizations, our environments, and our communities not only better today than they were yesterday but also even better tomorrow.
- We believe in being part of something bigger than yourself. We recognize the importance of community, the powerful idea that we belong to something bigger than us and that it, too, is a part of us. We recognize our responsibility to our community, and we recognize the community’s responsibility to us, as well.
Introducing Class 19
Diverse. Experienced. Motivated. TMMBA is thrilled to welcome this accomplished group of professionals, from Puget Sound’s most predominate and thriving industries, to the Foster family!
- Number of Students: 42
- Gender Representation: 33% Female, 67% Male
- # of Countries Represented: 5 – China, Egypt, India, Korea and United States
- Average Years of Professional Work Experience: 10 Years
- Number of Companies Represented: 27
- Leading Company Representation: The Boeing Company, Microsoft Corporation, T-Mobile and Amazon
