Leadership on Another Level: Meet the Executive MBA Class of 2024
This year, 98 students from around the world joined the Executive Master of Business Administration Program at the Ross School of Business locations in Ann Arbor and Los Angeles.
Members of the EMBA Class of 2024 have an average of 16 years of full-time work experience — including nine years of supervisory experience — and work in over 27 different industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, tech, consulting, financial services, energy, and government/military. Students of color represent 40% of the class and 46% of the class has already earned at least one advanced degree.
To learn more about the cohort, meet four members of the new Michigan Ross Executive MBA class below.
Martinson K. Arnan
Current city: Kalamazoo, Michigan (Born: Suhum, Ghana)
Current job: Vice president and chief clinical officer at Bronson Healthcare Group
Undergraduate school/major: Indiana University, dual Bachelor’s of Science degrees in biology and biochemistry with a minor in mathematics; Harvard Medical School, MD
What is your greatest professional accomplishment so far?
In March 2020, when Michigan recorded the first cases of COVID-19, I formed a cross-functional team of clinicians and scientists to serve as my organization’s Incident Command Clinical Consultants. Our main priorities were to keep our workforce safe and to create practice standards to ensure that patients receive effective care.
The ICCC provided a reliable and balanced framework for developing clinical practice guidelines that were informed by strong evidence and corroborated by authoritative sources. The guidelines provided both our internists and intensivists with the best evidence and practice standards for caring for patients across the spectrum of illness severity. As a direct result of this work, our patients have experienced outstanding clinical outcomes. For instance, our COVID-19 mortality rate is comparable to national benchmarks in observed/expected mortality ratios. Additionally, our COVID-19 mortality rates have been similar between our Black and white patients. This is a remarkable statistic since in many parts of the United States the Black/white mortality ratio has stubbornly remained above one.
Over a span of 18 months we developed 57 clinical practice guidelines; 77 Situation-Background-Assessments-Recommendations, policies, and statements; and 18 tip sheets. I am pleased with how this work has increased provider engagement. I consider this my proudest achievement because this effort has created a safe working environment for our employees and facilitated the delivery of high-quality and equitable care to our patients.
Why did you decide to enroll in the Michigan Ross EMBA Program?
I decided to enroll in the Michigan Ross EMBA Program because this additional training will help me to increase my exposure to the fundamentals of finance, budgeting, and human capital management, which are critical for a healthcare executive. Additionally, courses in accounting, marketing, sales, and organizational behavior are indispensable content for physician leaders to be able to successfully support organizational decision-making with a richer understanding of the complex interplay between healthcare delivery and finance.
What made the Ross EMBA Program stand out?
The renowned Michigan Model of Leadership and the ExecMAP program.
What are you most looking forward to?
A lifelong network of exceptional individuals who make up the student body, faculty, and staff.
How do you believe pursuing your MBA at Ross will help you in your career?
A Ross EMBA will help me to define my brand and ensure that I stand out as a leader who has the requisite skills and training to deliver the highest value to those that I have the privilege to serve.
Shanon Muir
Current city: Los Angeles, California (Hometown: Bellingham, Massachusetts)
Current job: Senior vice president, business and legal affairs, Warner Bros. Discovery
Undergraduate school/major: University of Michigan, Latin American studies and women’s studies
What is your greatest professional accomplishment so far?
I am really proud of the way my team functioned during the pandemic. I am proud of how I led and honored that my team trusted me to lead them during such an uncertain time.
Why did you decide to enroll in the Michigan Ross Executive MBA Program?
I first completed the Accelerated Management Development Program through Michigan Ross Executive Education. I was blown away by the curriculum and the professors and it inspired me to look into the EMBA program. Furthermore, in my job I wear both a business hat and a legal hat and had a desire to strengthen my financial acumen.
What made the Ross EMBA Program stand out to you versus other programs?
The convenience of the LA location coupled with the national visibility and ranking of the program were the top sells for me. Also, Michigan Ross has a reputation for an emphasis on leadership and it is very uniquely woven through the curriculum and the program.
What are you most looking forward to in the program and at Ross?
I am looking forward to applying all the skills we are learning to our ExecMAP projects.
How do you believe pursuing your MBA at Ross will help you in your career?
I believe the MBA will give me the technical skills I need to round out my skillset to move into the C-suite.
Bill Danaher
Current city: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (Hometown: Torrington, Connecticut)
Current job: Rector (senior pastor), Christ Church Cranbrook
Undergraduate school/major: Brown University, BA in history; Virginia Theological Seminary, Master in Divinity; Yale University, PhD
What is your greatest professional accomplishment so far?
Three come to mind: During my academic career, when I was dean of theology at Huron University College in Ontario, I led advancement efforts in establishing the first chair in Islamic Studies at a faculty of theology in Canada. At Christ Church Cranbrook, I led the congregation through a major, $12 million building campaign during the pandemic, which thankfully is finishing on time and on budget. Finally, thanks to the generous support of the Erb Family Foundation, I secured funding to start a nonprofit, The Cranbrook Project, which provides programming in music, art, and education that elevates emerging artists and brings together the cities and suburbs in metro Detroit.
Why did you decide to enroll in the Michigan Ross Executive MBA Program?
I am pursuing an EMBA so I can become a better leader and discover what good I might do in the world with a more rigorous background in business. I want to extend my knowledge and experience beyond the nonprofit/academic/ecclesial intersection where I have been working to date in my career. Finally, I am fascinated by social enterprises in their many forms, and the EMBA will equip me to start one or collaborate with those already doing great work.
To step even further back, I have a deep curiosity and love for management and business. I have long believed that every business can be a powerful force of positive social change. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant and built a large construction firm. After he retired, we worked together on his different properties. One day, while we were picking up gravel from a local pit, a worker climbed off his bulldozer and approached him. He said, “You gave my father a job in the Depression, and I would like to shake your hand.” This instilled tremendous respect in me for the positive impact that ordinary businesses can have.
What made the Ross EMBA program stand out to you versus other programs?
Ross integrates an emphasis on leadership with an equal emphasis on skill development in a way that is unique among EMBA programs. Also, it is an incredible blessing to have a world-class business program within driving distance of where I live and work.
What are you most looking forward to in the program and at Ross?
For much of my academic career — both as a student and as a professor — I have been driven by the outcome of my education rather than focused on the process of learning. Ross is giving me the opportunity to reorient myself toward a growth mindset — of loving the process of learning for learning's sake.
How do you believe pursuing your MBA at Ross will help you in your career?
Obtaining this degree represents the next logical step in my career trajectory, which reflects a steady increase in responsibilities in the church and academy. As a university professor and later as dean, I chaired committees tasked with marketing, strategic planning, advancement, collective bargaining agreements, and budget priorities. These experiences provided me with the multiple competencies required to lead my current church. An EMBA will enable my aptitude for business and management to grow. I have no intention of leaving my current position, however, my beliefs require that I remain open to where there might be a more optimal interaction between my abilities and the world’s needs.
It has been a delight and privilege to get to know my professors and classmates. Each has created a learning community that brings out the best in each other.
Kelvin Kwan, EMBA '24
Current city: Seattle, Washington
Current job: Director of client management, global client group, American Express
Undergraduate school/major: University of British Columbia, Bachelor of Business Administration, management information systems and services
What is your greatest professional accomplishment so far?
For 12 years, I served at World Vision International, the largest global faith-based NGO with a mission to partner with children, families, and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice, through humanitarian aid, development and advocacy work. My greatest professional accomplishment was in my role as a global program manager, where I had the pleasure of leading a team to pilot an integrated source-to-pay platform, and then as part of a larger global business transformation initiative, to build up an international team responsible for implementing the solution for 42 country offices, over six continents, to address 80% of the organization's annual $589 million spend in supplier goods and services. We also helped to establish three financial shared service centers in Ghana, the Philippines, and Costa Rica to transition back-office operations that facilitated a 20-50% reduction in administrative tasks for our field offices. Through our efforts, we significantly reduced back-office costs and maximized donations to reach the children and communities who needed it the most. I co-labored with the most incredible, diverse, and passionate people who were drawn together with the same desire of serving the poorest of the poor. It was one of the most memorable experiences in my life and also one of my proudest professional accomplishments.
Why did you decide to enroll in the Michigan Ross Executive MBA Program?
In searching for an EMBA program, I sought to find a program where I could learn how to better lead myself and others and to develop a practical leadership framework that I could take into any situation. I was quickly attracted to the Michigan Model of Leadership and its stated philosophy of how to lead for impact and legacy. Specifically, I was drawn to the challenge put forth by the authors of “Developing Adaptive Leaders for Turbulent Times: The Michigan Model of Leadership” wherein it is written: “We need leaders whose core purpose in life is to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and who embody the courage, empathy, integrity, and drive to tackle tough challenges.” I was impressed by the Michigan Ross clear and bold leadership "call to action" and the sense of urgency to make the most of every situation and experience for the betterment of others.
What made the Ross EMBA program stand out to you versus other programs?
I appreciate the Ross EMBA favorable full-time faculty to student ratio, the monthly residency format on the West coast, and the genuineness of the Ross EMBA admissions team. At this stage in my career, I was looking for a more intimate experience with like-minded, similarly experienced professionals and with world-class faculty, so I could build on the foundation of my experience and knowledge and collaboratively learn from other student journeys. The LA cohort of my EMBA class is 30 students, and during the monthly residencies, I have full and uninterrupted access to my professors and fellow students over a focused two-day period. That is something I have found incredibly valuable and I have personally already benefited from that intimate interaction just in the first couple of months into the program.
What are you most looking forward to in the program and at Ross?
One of the key benefits of an EMBA program is the opportunity to immediately apply lessons learned in the classroom setting and to find practical application in my workplace through a "learn, apply, debrief, and refine" cycle. Coupled with Ross' unique 1:1 executive coaching program, I am looking forward to collectively refining our leadership styles with my fellow student peers over this next two-year period, and to graduate as a more confident, skilled, and refined leader.
