2016 Best MBAs: Molly Burd, Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business

“Molly is justifiably proud of her joint military experience that involved all of the service branches – the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines – because collaboration is imperative for her. She is that rare leader who listens and engages others in finding solutions.”

Age: 31

Hometown: Centennial, Colorado

Education: United States Naval Academy, BS in Economics

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? United States Navy, Surface Warfare Officer

Where did you intern during the summer of 2015? Bank of America – Charlotte, North Carolina

Where will you be working after graduation? AT&T, Leadership Development Program – Dallas, Texas

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Senior Vice President of Leadership, MBA Association; Ambassadors Program Manager (coordinated prospective candidate visits with current students through classroom, tour, and lunch engagement); School Inc. Tutoring Program Manager (revived program and coordinated graduate business students math tutoring sessions for local 4th and 5th grade students)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Extracurricular achievement – My team won our Spring 2016 Interterm company deep dive competition. This was especially exciting as the company was AT&T (my future employer). We crafted most creative and achievable international expansion frameworks for AT&T’s expansion into Mexico and Latin America.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I chose to volunteer for a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq and work in a joint military environment with the US Army, US Marines, and US Air Force. I was the Program Manager for Operations Security (securing sensitive, but unclassified material) and developed an inaugural Operations Security training program for Iraqi soldiers who were training along side US forces.

Who is your favorite professor? Professor Tim Gilbride – he has high expectations and pushes his students to achieve more. And I love that his classes explore how to give marketing “teeth” with numbers!

Read Molly's entire profile on the Poets & Quants website.