Preston Young, MBA '13

From captain in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) to IP lawyer with IBM Corp., providing counsel on copyrights, trademarks, and patents, Preston Young, MBA '13, knows a thing or two about leadership.

"I am constantly challenged to lead by developing creative solutions to complicated business issues that comply with legal and ethical considerations," Preston says. "As I took on more high-visibility projects and found myself thinking more from a business perspective to solve legal problems, I felt that the Executive MBA at Ross would really help improve my business acumen."

Preston says his Ross Exec MBA experience has helped him transform his role away from just the traditional attorney function.

"I see business from a much broader perspective now," he says. " I go into a grocery store and think about the effectiveness of product placement as a positioning strategy. I study the processing times while standing in line at the local coffee shop and contemplate customer flow improvements. At work I recognize the key drivers of business decisions and I see how various parts of business influence one another, which is crucial in any leadership role."

Coming from the military, Preston was able to take advantage of Ross' involvement with the Yellow Ribbon Program, which helps an unlimited number of U.S. Veterans cover the cost of unmet tuition needs.

"I can't say enough positive things about Ross' commitment to and treatment of veterans. The Yellow Ribbon program has exceeded all of my expectations," he says. "The fact that Ross endorses the program in such a public way and has a cadre of veteran graduates is a powerful statement about its genuine support of the military community and the value that veterans bring to the EMBA cohort. In my rejection of other EMBA offers, I referenced Ross' Yellow Ribbon program as the "gold standard," which I suggested others should emulate."