It’s an exciting and important achievement to graduate from Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives in San Francisco and Philadelphia and join Wharton’s 88,000-member alumni network.
During their two years at Wharton, students juggle demanding jobs and a rigorous curriculum as well as family and community responsibilities. They commute from near and far – sometimes even internationally. And many of their families grow. In this year’s graduating West Coast class, we’ve celebrated four weddings and the birth of 14 babies. In our East Coast class, we’ve had 10 weddings and celebrated the birth of 18 babies.
The 83 students in the Wharton | San Francisco graduating class work in a diversity of industries, such as semiconductors, technology, consulting, energy, aerospace and entertainment. The majority commuted from Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the Bay Area, but others came from Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. After graduation, one student is planning to join the FBI, four are moving to China, and one is potentially moving to Africa.
The West Coast program’s graduation ceremonytook place May 6 at Herbst Memorial Theater in San Francisco and featured commencement speaker Carol Bartz, former CEO of Autodesk and Yahoo! Graduating student Dr. Howard Willson gave the student speech.
The East Coast class was similarly busy with two businesses launched, two students accepted into the Wharton Venture Initiation Programto work on start-ups, and another moving to China.
Most of the 112 members of the Philadelphia graduating class commuted from the East Coast – spanning from Massachusetts to North Carolina – but others came from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi,Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Toronto. Working in a wide variety of industries, students represented sectors including healthcare, consulting, financial services, technology, venture capital, nonprofits and insurance.
Graduates attended the MBA graduation ceremony in Philadelphia on May 13th with San Francisco grads gathering at the Inn at Penn for a special celebratory breakfast with friends and family, while the Philadelphia cohort gathered at the University Museum for brunch with their loved ones. The East Coast ceremony featured keynote speaker Dr. Mehmet Oz (Penn MD/Wharton MBA,'86). The student speaker was Aidan Connolly.
Congratulations to all of our graduates!