Ronson Shamoun is a triple USD alumnus as well as an adjunct professor and board member for the USD School of Business and the USD School of Law . In 2017, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the USD School of Law.

When Geraldine Ridaura was pursuing her degree in business administration at the University of San Diego, turning the ancient Japanese ritual of matcha into a profitable business seemed about as likely as actually attending an ancient Japanese tea ceremony.

While Leonie Sandelbaum may have officially become an international business executive only after graduating with her MBA degree from the University of San Diego School of Business , she always had a mindset for global leadership. When she made the decision to pursue her MBA degree, international and experience-based learning was a non-negotiable.

USD School of Business alum Bill Dopp has given new meaning to the term ‘international business leader.’ Not only has he led the expansion of several multimillion-dollar corporations into new markets, but in doing so, he has continually left his own mark—a legacy of global growth. “I always want to be able to say an organization is better by virtue of me having been there,” he said.

For USD School of Business alumna Stephanie Eppig, the idea of continuing her great-great-grandfather’s legacy was one that had been brewing in her family for some time. But between graduating with her degree in business from USD, leading the marketing efforts of some of the world’s most well-known brands, competing in 14 triathlons and raising more than $45,000 for cancer research, the idea of starting San Diego’s only waterfront craft brewery wasn’t exactly at the top of her to-do list.

When Jim Toth speaks of servant leadership, it’s not just lip service. A 20-year retired US Marine Corps CH-46E pilot, squadron commander and current franchisee of Chick-fil-A in Temecula, California, Toth made the transition from serving his country to serving his employees, customers and community with the vision that they will one day do the same.

For USD School of Business alumna Debbie Ruane, every experience has been a brush stroke in the formation of a much bigger picture. A budding entrepreneur and proven leader in affordable housing finance and development, Ruane has always been a connector—an expert in identifying, maximizing and unifying the resources necessary to progress toward an optimal solution. Though her propensity for this is evidenced largely through her legacy of leadership as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), it can also be seen throughout her entire career trajectory—from her earliest experience as a Senior Vice President for Bank of America to her newest ambition as founder and principal of her real estate consulting business, Norwood Development Strategies.

Chivalry is not lost; it just looks different in the modern world. Fast forward hundreds of years from knights in shining armor galloping into battle to one company president and CEO battling the recession, keeping his company active and employees afloat through the 2008 economic crisis -- chivalry is still alive. Chivalry was an early standard of professional ethics for knights. Knighthood was and still is an honor granted by a monarch or head of state for a meritorious achievement. Ali Reza Arabnia ’87 (MBA) never saw knighthood coming.

In basketball, the point guard is the selfless leader of the team—the player responsible for maximizing the talents of every person on the court, individually and collectively. As point guard for the first USD Toreros basketball team to earn an NCAA Tournament berth in 1983-84 and a graduate of the USD School of Business in 1986, Chris Carr was on his way to becoming a corporate leader long before he held the title of executive. Little did he know, however, that it would be the unique culmination of the skills he gained both on the court and in the classroom that would drive his corporate success—first at ExxonMobil, and now as Executive Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer at Starbucks.

The wall in Justin Crachy’s office at Solar Turbines holds a large whiteboard illustrating various models innovating for his company’s supply chain organization. Crachy ponders that board every day, fine-tuning these models, planning his next move. As a Supply Chain Manager for the San Diego-based global industrial gas turbine manufacturer, he doesn’t just see facts and figures. Crachy sees a massive game of chess where every move represents a carefully calculated strategy to make Solar Turbines, its customers, and its suppliers more successful.