Just a few years after earning his degree from the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, Nicholas Bost is already reshaping the future of real estate—one telecom deal at a time. As Director of Acquisitions at TowerPoint, a national leader in digital infrastructure investment, Nicholas has carved out a path that’s anything but conventional. While many real estate graduates pursue traditional asset classes like multifamily or office, Nicholas found his niche at the intersection of real estate and technology—where rooftop leases, cell towers, and wireless networks are the new frontier. His journey from a business-savvy student to a rising leader in this specialized field is a testament to the power of early ambition, relentless hustle, and the right support system.

Brian C. Tietje, PhD, is the dean of the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego. His decades of experience in higher education include service as the dean of the College of Business at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi from 2021-2025 and as a professor of marketing, associate dean of business and vice provost of international, graduate, and extended education at Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) from 1999-2021.

A Conversation with Bobby Morales ’24 (MSRE)—Finding Opportunity and Creating Impact; How a Marine Special Ops Vet Built a Career in Real Estate We recently interviewed Bobby Morales’24 (MSRE) to gain insights into his journey pivoting into commercial real estate. Bobby is a 23-year Marine Corps Veteran. He currently serves as a project manager for Lowe in San Diego. Lowe is a real estate investment, development and management firm specializing in creating commercial, hotel, multifamily and retail properties. Lowe also focuses on infill multifamily development, particularly on sites with good access to amenities and transit. Bobby graduated from the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE)  program at the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business in 2024. He currently serves as a liaison and facilitator for the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate ’s (BMC) Real Estate Awareness and Discovery Initiative (READI) program. He is also actively engaged with the San Diego chapter of NAIOP and serves on the NAIOP San Diego Foundation Board. Read the interview below.

We recently interviewed Adam Robinson '01 to gain insights into his journey in and passion for commercial real estate. Adam is very active in the San Diego community, engaged with University of San Diego real estate students and is on the cutting edge of real estate in San Diego.

Growing up, people are often shown only one clear path to success in life: get your high school diploma then your college degree and fit into society perfectly without making too much noise. Sometimes it’s hard to envision success for yourself when you don’t fit the mold you see represented all around you. However, Giacomo Battaglia, Knauss international business student, decided that he wouldn’t let this box him in and he was going to achieve his goals his own way, on his own timeline. 

Many pursue a business degree in hopes to open doors in the corporate world, gaining skills in negotiation, financial management, and business law to be used for personal or commercial financial gain. In the case of Viridiana Quintana ’ 19, these skills were learned and applied for a unique type of gain outside of her own benefit, but rather for the community.

The Knauss School of Business is pleased to announce the semifinalist teams competing in the 6th Annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge (FBCC) on December 6. These 16 teams were selected from among 52 unique submissions, and represent four USD schools — the Knauss School of Business, the Kroc School of Peace Studies, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences.

Born and raised on the border of Mexico and the United States in a small town called Calexico, Ethan Noriega grew up struggling to identify strictly with either culture. Living in the U.S. but taking weekly trips over the border to eat, visit family and play golf, he questioned where he belonged. That question alone continues to drive him today to create a sense of belonging for anyone feeling stuck in the “in-between”.

Cataleen Flores was raised at a perceived crossroads between compassion and enterprise. Recalling working at her father’s business and attending protests with her mother, her experiences in life led her to finding one singular goal: to balance her ambitions between activism and entrepreneurship.

As a result of the Epstein Challenge established by Daniel (Dan) Epstein , founder and executive chairman of the ConAm Group, to create scholarships for military-connected and veteran students, over $1.9 million in current use and endowment funds were raised as part of the Campaign for Student Success .

Leila (Nautalie) Hemmat ’24 (MSRE) was born in Redwood City, CA and grew up in San Mateo, CA. Nautalie and her three older sisters, one of them being her twin, are all first-generation Iranian-Americans. In May, Nautalie completed the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) program at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business. She is the first person in her immediate family to graduate with a master’s degree.

Sit down with the 2024 Undergraduate Valedictorian of the Knauss School of Business at University of San Diego while she shares her USD experience. Zoey Brown ’24 (BBA in Marketing and Business Analytics) walks us through what she felt starting college during the pandemic, her school involvement, motivations and the moment she became valedictorian.

Shreya Dandu ’24 (BBA) experienced college much differently than many other 2024 graduates. From starting at the University of San Diego while living in the south of India over 8,000 miles away, to eventually building her own community all over the globe, Shreya reflects on the struggles she faced adjusting to life back in the United States, and how she found support in order to graduate successfully with her degrees in both finance and psychology this May.

Evelyne Vu-Tien, DDS, ’24 (MBA) has lived a life full of accomplishments, but to her, some of the greatest achievements have been those from building success for others. As a busy pediatric dentist who ran her own practice for 14 years, going back to school again for a masters degree was a bold move made with her community in mind.  Graduating this year from the part-time MBA program at Knauss, Evelyne has big plans for using her degree - not to make more money but to help more people by sharing best practices for their businesses, creating more sustainable dental practices, and encouraging access for underserved communities.

Growing up, Mia Soto was always ambitious and loved to lead. But it wasn’t until she worked an internship at a construction site in high school that she first discovered real estate as a potential career path. She had no family or friends — let alone women mentors — who worked in commercial real estate to guide her, but something was sparked.

Addis Sansone ’24 (MSF) is not your typical marine veteran. He loves order and discipline, which brought him to the military and to seek out a career in finance, but he is also a passionate individual who expresses himself through poetry. He didn’t think there was a place that could foster both parts of his life. So he was surprised to find that in 10 short months at the University of San Diego (USD), he found the resources, the community and the support to not only earn his master’s in finance and secure a job, but also to publish his first book of poetry.

Can you imagine starting college through a computer screen, then transitioning to life on campus without any of the usual introductions? When starting college as a first-year student, the typical experience includes orientation, welcome committees, tours of the campus, and meetings with advisors to guide you on your journey through higher education. For Marcos Vargas ’24 (BACC/MACC), and many other students who started college in the fall of 2020, that wasn’t the case. So it was up to them to find their own way, build a community and find success before graduation.

Entrepreneurial innovation took center stage on Wednesday, April 24 with the third annual Torero Entrepreneurship Challenge (TECh).

It all starts with an idea—one that is encouraged, cultivated, and given the space to thrive. At the University of San Diego (USD) Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, it is this model that is behind the Torero Entrepreneurship Challenge (TECh) , an annual virtual competition where students from across the campus community compete for up to $20,000 in seed funding for entrepreneurial technological ventures. 

Lorenzo Dominique Berho Carranza ’07 (MSRE) is Filling Big Shoes all the Way to the NYSE Lorenzo Dominique Berho Carranza ’07 (MSRE) shines as a beacon of success in the industrial real estate sector. Over the past five years, he has orchestrated an extraordinary transformation of Vesta (BMV: VESTA; NYSE: VTMX) as its CEO, a testament to his remarkable 20-year journey within the industry. Lorenzo’s leadership has led the company on a path of ambitious objectives, steering Vesta towards new heights.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia was the fastest-growing G20 economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. Strong growth continued into 2023, reflecting robust oil production and surges in wholesale markets, retail trade, construction and transportation.

Originally from Colombia, Daniel Atuesta worked as a clinical therapist for four years and had the opportunity to support survivors of human trafficking. His drive and desire to make a bigger impact led him to the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business — and his love of data led him to pursue the dual MBA and MS in Business Analytics (MSBA) program . "Trying to change the stigma that there is behind mental health is my priority. And in order to do that, in order to convince individuals in senior leadership, it is important to speak their language. If I could transform how businesses work nowadays, that is the best thing I could do," says Daniel.  Watch the video above to hear more about Daniel's student experience and his journey toward a new career path.

On the surface, Tony O’Neill, ‘07 (MSRE) and Jon Mesa, ‘15 (MSRE) are perfect business partners. Both majored in economics at their respective undergraduate colleges. Both graduated from the Master of Science in Real Estate program at the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business. Yet while most people assume that they have found success in business because they are so similar, it is the duo's contrasting skill sets that has propelled their company, Wolverine Ventures, to success in the real estate industry. “We are the yin to the other’s yang,” says O’Neill.

In June, the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate awarded the Daniel B. Woodruff Memorial Scholarship for 2023 to Kaysa Lundberg ’23. This award honors exceptional real estate students who exhibit academic excellence and intellectual curiosity. The scholarship is given to students who best epitomize Daniel (Dan) Woodruff’s ’98 positive qualities of academic excellence, warmth, determination, intellectual curiosity and unabashed love for humankind.

In June, Patrick Kappel ’19 MSRE and the Kappel Realty Group of COMPASS were recognized nationally by RealTrends as the #2 producing large residential real estate team in San Diego and ranked 31 st in the state of California, placing Kappel Realty Group amongst the top one percent of all residential real estate brokerage teams in the United States. 

Pursuing a graduate or an undergraduate real estate degree at the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business is a transformative journey that enhances knowledge, expands horizons and opens doors to a promising career in real estate.

When he was around 18 years old, Chris Speed ’20 remembers thinking, “I wonder what Google does?”  Today, it’s safe to say the Knauss School of Business MBA alumnus knows plenty about the tech giant. Now in his role of Pixel Go-to-Market Manager at Google, Chris has pulled back the curtain on the then-mysterious company that piqued his curiosity. But his path to reach the Silicon Valley superpower was a bit of a windy one. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in economics from California State University San Marcos, and later a Master of Science in engineering/industrial management from National University, Chris thrived at several different companies in positions centered around process improvement, project management and business strategy.  “I was able to dip my toes in different waters,” Chris says. “ Getting a comprehensive view of many businesses—that allows you to be a Swiss Army knife. ” At Encore Capital Group in San Diego, in particular, he led business development and strategy and, despite refining his skill set and finding increasing success, he knew he was meant to do more. “There was this glass ceiling,” Chris explains. “I’m in the room, but I don’t have a seat at the table. I wanted to be on par with those at the table.”  An MBA Opens the Door to Big Tech So, Chris decided that an MBA would help him break through the limitations he felt and position him for the greater level of responsibility he was looking for. Plus, “I consider myself a lifelong learner,” he says.  He chose the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, an institution he admired in a setting he was familiar with, having grown up in the Linda Vista neighborhood right next to campus. Learning what he calls “the tricks of the trade” in the MBA program opened the door to Chris’s first job in the tech industry, at Meta. And, from there, he was given the opportunity to transition into his current role at Google, which carries the influence he had sought—but demands a far different expertise than what he’d been honing over the years. “I had to do a complete about-face when I started at Google,” Chris says, recalling shifting job responsibilities. In his current Go-to-Market Manager role, with product launches of several Pixel phones and the Pixel Watch under his belt, he uses insights to help create a point of view, “distilling a bunch of crazy information” into a recommendation for leadership. Once approved, he then implements the strategy alongside the telecommunications partner to sell the phone. What was his secret to pivoting positions so seamlessly? Unbeknownst to Chris, the Knauss School of Business’ MBA program had prepared him for the job at Google all along. Business Lessons You Use at Google “My role at Google mirrors a substantial portion of my MBA,” he laughs. “Marketing and analytics—that coursework I use every day.”  He explains that marketing courses he took by Professors Seth Ellis and Carlton O’Neal culminated with a simulation in which students make decisions about taking a product to market. “I’m basically doing the exact same thing!” Chris says. “Those courses really prepared me for the stress and the chaos and the nuance and the fun of new product introduction.” On the analytics side, Professor Amit Kakkad’s course, which Chris admits he “absolutely hated,” provided him with a leg up. “Google is so analytical, it’s unreal,” Chris says. “The framework—decision trees, in particular—that he taught in his class I use on a regular basis.”  “The foundation of qualitative and quantitative skills that I got from the MBA program helped me to put on a life vest and splash my way to shore,” he adds.  Fulfilling a Calling to Make an Impact “I’ve always wanted to be in the seat that I sit in now. Google is the most trusted brand in the world. It’s a bunch of very talented, type-A people that are entrepreneurs building something and moving it forward.”  As to the most unexpected thing about working at the company, “I can move the needle and have an impact—I was really surprised by that.” Chris admits to working a lot, either remotely or at the Mountain View office, in which he enjoys hopping aboard the Google shuttle to travel to and from his San Francisco residence. So, on weekends, “I spend time with my friends—refill my tank,” he says.  Chris also spends his downtime exploring the Bay Area, calling himself a “constant tourist,” playing tennis, reading anything from the latest trends in AI to personal growth, or hanging out with his dog, Arya, named after a character in Game of Thrones . — Katie Payne

This spring, the Knauss School of Business welcomed its inaugural Flex MBA class, one of the most diverse MBA cohorts yet — they’re multigenerational, multiracial and multifaceted. Ranging in age from early 20s to early 60s, the Flex MBA cohort has an average age of 34 and more than half identify as Black, Hispanic or Asian. More than one-third are veterans and collectively, they have an average of seven and a half years of work experience, bringing robust professional insights to the classroom. Students currently work at the Port of San Diego, Booz Allen Hamilton, Shareworks by Morgan Stanley, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Collins Aerospace, to name a few.

We’ve heard it before — the easiest way to maintain your health or lose weight is to get 10,000 steps or at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Ripple effect: a situation in which one event or person produces effects which spread and produce further effects.

MBA student and U.S. Navy veteran, Jorge Muñiz, won a grand prize scholarship of $15,000 at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Business Concept Challenge (FBCC) on Friday, Dec. 2.

Jorge Muñiz is a program manager at Northrop Grumman who oversees Global Hawk Enterprise Services. Before moving into the defense contracting industry, he had an established military career spanning 20 years. But even someone with his level of career success is susceptible to self doubt.

A team of 15 executives and key leaders from Italgas visited the University of San Diego in October for a weeklong program organized by the Ahlers Center for International Business at the Knauss School of Business. Italgas is an Italian company that specializes in the distribution of natural gas and visited USD to learn about innovation and design-driven strategies for competitive differentiation. Throughout the week, Italgas participants attended five workshops addressing strategic issues for the launch of its Leadership Model in Change Management. Workshop topics included Innovation and Organizational Learning taught by Management Professor Carsten Zimmermann, Leading Organizational Change taught by Associate Dean of Faculty and Accreditation Priya Kannan-Narasimhan and featured guest speaker Dean Tim Keane, Capturing Shared Value with ESG taught by International Business Professor Eileen Daspro), Leading Multicultural Teams and Organizations taught by Management Professor Afsaneh Nahavandi, and Sustainable Business Model Innovation and Design taught by Management Professor Jaime Gomez). To complement the workshops, the Italgas group attended the Supply Chain Management Institute's Fall Forum conference at USD as well as company visits to Sempra and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Before leaving, they enjoyed a leisurely city tour of San Diego including a stop at the scenic Mount Soledad.  "The program was a enriching opportunity to exchange ideas and reflections dedicated to the leadership development of our executives and key managers," said Irene Sacchetto, head of talent and change management at Italgas. Italgas Connection to USD Italgas currently participates in the Paris/Milan/Rome study abroad program for accounting students as a company visit destination. In 1993, its CEO, Paolo Gallo, organized an exchange program with USD to send students to Italy — a program that was attended by Accountancy Lecturer Mark Judd who was a USD MBA student at the time. The two forged a relationship, one that has enabled USD accounting students to continue visiting Italian companies since 2010.

Economics and the dynamics associated with it — data, factors, and theories — bring out the “econ nerd” in Jordan Jadallah. His interest in economic data analysis served him well as a student at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business, and it continues to be an asset today as an Idaho real estate agent and a financial, sales and strategy person for a new security product venture.  “USD greatly increased my grasp of analysis and analytics tools. As an econ nerd, I used every excuse to spend more time looking at everything I was learning in class. It strengthened my critical thinking skills and polished me for the real world,” says Jadallah, who majored in economics before graduating from USD in 2014. He enjoyed many of his business classes, particularly those taught by economics professors Stephen Conroy and Steve Sumner, who emphasized classroom discussion among students as well as with the professor. Vibrant classroom discussions are encouraged through the school’s commitment to active learning and small class sizes.  “Classes were extremely valuable to me due to the deep discussions we’d have on economics,” he said. “My favorite class was managerial economics with Dr. Conroy. He provided helpful insights on how to run a business, what’s important to look for, and how to manage your own economics. I learned how to think from a business manager’s perspective.” In school, Jadallah focused on learning what it takes to create a business and run it. He and classmate Morgan Schwanke won $15,000 in the 2013 Venture Vetting (V2) Pitch Competition, a campus-wide competition where USD students pitch their business concepts or operating enterprises for cash awards. Their idea, On My Block, was designed to help college students find the best place to live.  “We spent 50 to 60 hours just practicing our pitch for the competition. We had a good business model and that’s why we won V2. When you spend so much time on your pitch deck, it makes you look at your own business more critically because you want to be prepared for any questions judges may ask.” Later, as a business analyst for TCG Advisors in Northern California, he built financial and business models for executive clients, including Cisco, Rackspace and GE. His passion for cars then led to a job as a driving instructor for Simraceway Performance Driving Center for a year before moving to EV manufacturer Tesla as a product specialist and then as a sales operations analyst where he was in charge of sales teams, retail and managing the CRM software for over 200 stores. Tesla afforded him a chance to give back and support USD students.  “When I was at Tesla, Dr. Conroy contacted me about possible projects for the Student International Business Council (a student-run organization at USD). I convinced my director to allow USD students a chance to work as consultants on one of our many projects. Dr. Conroy had done so much for me, and this was a way to give back. I felt that students deserved the opportunity, and Tesla’s project gave them a direct connection and an opportunity to practice their business skills in the real world.” Jadallah left Tesla after nearly three years and gained further experience with Samsara, a software development company, and ChargePoint. But in November 2021, his life turned in a completely different direction. He left Silicon Valley for Idaho, got engaged and became a real estate agent. “I couldn’t be happier,” he says of his new life in Idaho. “My knowledge with statistics is a skill that not many have as a real estate agent. Understanding what’s going on with the economy as an agent and having a conversation at a technical level is quite valuable.”

"We have overcome so much as a class which has only made us closer, stronger and more well-rounded individuals,” says Chaney Wollaston ’22 (BBA/BACC), the Knauss School of Business Class of 2022 Valedictorian. “Our experience at USD is something that has influenced our past, our current and our future identity.”

For Christina Abdou, even the task of selling cookies as a young Girl Scout became a family activity with her mom, dad and two younger sisters banding together to sell those iconic Girl Scout Cookies. Her mom even implemented a new sales tactic: selling four boxes for twenty dollars. The cost per box remained unchanged, but that small adjustment in language made sales skyrocket!

“Danielle is a lot happier when she is in warm weather,” Danielle Priore’17 laughs as she recalls this quote from her brother. Warm weather and palm trees were not the only selling points that drew Danielle to the University of San Diego from Cleveland, OH. While she admits that the sunshine was an added bonus, Danielle shared that USD’s values-based education and growing real estate program sealed the deal for her.

Taylor always had her eye on commercial real estate. As an undergraduate at San Diego State University, she majored in management, minored in finance and joined the real estate society because she had an inkling that her future might entail a career in real estate. Taylor had not yet made the right connections to tap into the San Diego real estate market, so as a senior, in 2013, she attended a career fair which led to her first job at a national private label grocery store chain. ALDI, founded by the Albrecht family in Germany in 1961, later opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976 and currently has more than 2,000 stores across 36 states with over 25,000 employees.

Each year, Poets&Quants celebrates the accomplishments of 100 college seniors in its Best and Brightest list, a compilation of students nominated by the Top 50 Undergraduate Business Schools including the Knauss School of Business. This year, Chaney Wollaston, an accounting and business economics senior, and João Pires Coelho, an international business and supply chain senior from Portugal, were selected to represent the Knauss School of Business for their academic performance, extracurricular leadership, innate potential and overall commitment to fostering business for good.  Fun fact about yourself:  I am writing a book. Hometown:  Lisbon, Portugal High School:  Externato Marista de Lisboa Major:  International Business & Supply Chain Management Minor:  None Favorite Business Course:  Negotiations in a Global Business Environment Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College: Leadership Roles: Student International Business Council Member and Team Leader USD Model United Nations Member School Awards and Honors: Outstanding Delegate Award at Carolina’s Model UN Conference USD Dean’s List (2020, 2021) USD First Honors (2020, 2021) Catolica Top+ Scholarship Where have you interned during your college career? Intern at Fábrica Startups Lisbon – Summer 2020 – I worked at a startup incubator in Lisbon, Portugal where I was part of the creation of their new product, conducted research and consumer segment analyses, and did website development. YAC Consulting – 2021 – I co-founded a consulting company in Portugal, where I worked for one year as COO and Head of Strategy. I created every process of the company from scratch, conducted meetings with clients, and oversaw all projects where I shared my consulting experience from SIBC with our consultants. In my time there, we grew the company from just 3 co-founders to a startup with 25 members. Where will you be working after graduation?   I will be pursuing a Master’s double degree with Católica Lisbon and ESCP-Europe What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business?   When someone thinks of business, the first things that come to mind are profits and revenues. The biggest takeaway from studying business is that people are way more important than any profit margin. In such a modernized world, we can develop methods in seconds to fully optimize our supply chain, extract the most revenue possible from a market, or explore financial markets and predict the next big investment opportunity. All of that is not possible without the people behind it. Subjects like interpersonal relations and negotiations that teach people how to deal with people are the most important thing that someone could learn in a business degree. What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field?   For a student looking to major in a business-related field, I would give the advice of exploring some of the less known business majors that are out there. In my case, I chose Supply Chain Management as one of my majors, the business major with the least amount of people at my university, and it has been so worth it since day 1. I recommend exploring beyond the stereotypical business admin or finance major. In these lesser known majors, you usually find the most interesting people, both faculty and peers, and it’s where you will find your real passion in business. What has surprised you most about majoring in business? The thing that surprised me the most about majoring in business is not related to the major, but about the people who pursue it. I have always thought that people who studied business would be looking to work at a big company, whose dream job was to become CEO or to create their own business. I was astonished by the variety of reasons and motivations that people had to pursue the same major as me. Some wanted to help their family business; some wanted to work with non-profits and have the best knowledge possible to help them; and some were older students who decided that it was time in life to pursue a degree. In my mind, a business major was always composed of young adults between 18-25 years, with either a money-thirsty personality or a real entrepreneurial spirit and it is much more than I expected. Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? There are not many things that I would have done differently. I believe that I have always tried to make the best out of every situation that I am in. The one thing I would have changed would have been to attend more presentations by guest speakers. When I got into college, I always felt like guest speakers seemed to be a waste of time. But as I get ready to finish college, I wish I would have gone to listen to more of them. Guest speakers are not only a great networking opportunity, but they are also a great way to get insights into an industry or business. Which classmate do you most admire? I had the luck of meeting Eva in my first year at the University of San Diego and it has been very worth it ever since. Eva Eleftheriadis is probably the smartest person I have ever met in my life. She is a person with whom you can speak for hours, with the conversation never getting dull. One will never cease to be surprised by the vastness of her knowledge. She is the person that I know of who belongs to the largest number of clubs, being president of MUN (that I am part of) amongst many others. She is doing a major in International Relations and minors in Spanish, Classical Studies and Chemistry, all while being Pre-Med. And she is only a sophomore. She is doing so many things at the same time, and she is so organized that she actually inspired me to work harder and organize my life. I would not be surprised if, in the future, her name becomes one of those that we hear often in the news. Who would you most want to thank for your success? It is impossible to choose only one when there are two people that have influenced my success immensely. If there is anyone to thank for my success, my parents are the ones that come to mind. Not only are they my number one fans, but they have encouraged me throughout all my ups and downs in life to pursue the best outcome possible and keep on working. One thing that I remember very dearly is the many hours that my mother spent with me when I was little, teaching me how to study, helping me get through bad times at school and academic failures, all after 8 exhausting hours at her job. My parents are the reason that I got to where I am and there are no words to thank them enough. What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Create my own company – I wish to leave my legacy in the world in the form of a company that helps people in a certain way. I believe that all businesses can turn a profit while still making a difference and I wish to be one of those businesses. Become COO of a company – I have found a passion for supply chain management and strategy throughout my degree. COO has got to be the position that I believe fits those two interests best and that I would love to be What are your hobbies? I love reading and studying history. I own over 200 books, some of them dating as far back as 1904. I am also a big gamer and am really interested in the gaming industry. It’s one that I follow closely and would like to work in one day (perhaps at a company like Sony). I consider all of the clubs and extracurricular activities that I do as hobbies like SIBC or Model UN. I also have the stereotypical hobby of liking to travel and am always looking out for new places to visit and add to my bucket list. What made João such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2022? “Joao Pires Coelho is an outstanding member of the 2022 graduating class at the Knauss School of Business because he reflects all three elements of our mission: he is entrepreneurial, he has a global mindset and he has a strong sense of ethical business. It is hard to fully appreciate how challenging the last two years have been for our double degree students. Between travel restrictions, testing requirements, quarantines and constant uncertainty, these students have juggled many additional responsibilities throughout their time at USD. Joao has tackled them head on and has impressed me infinitely with his tireless work ethic and professionalism, his contagious enthusiasm and positivity and his genuine desire to make the most of every moment he is at USD.” - Eileen Daspro, Clinical Professor of International Business

The University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business is excited to announce a newly updated Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum to begin in Fall 2022. Building on the core strengths of the program, the new MBA curriculum is designed to be more rigorous, relevant, streamlined and personalized than ever.

For years, alcohol has long been a main player in bringing people together to socialize. But recently, an increasing number of people are trying to live their lives without booze.

“People think that property management is about real estate, but it is not,” says Renee Savage ’88. It’s about creating positive experiences for the people that interact with real estate. Fresh landscaping, a beautiful new art installation or even the way that an on-site staff member opens the door for someone is what property management entails and I am honored that I get to have a part in making a positive impact in people’s lives each day.”

In 3D printing, ideas are brought to life through a process of layering materials to create a desired object.   In a similar manner, Clara Remacha has built a career in 3D printing by layering the various experiences that have influenced her path, many of which came together during her time as an MBA student at the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business.  “The time I spent at USD was really the breakthrough in my career that helped me pivot toward what I’m doing now,” she said.

Colachis Plaza was the setting for a momentous announcement on Friday, December 3. Top administrators, trustees, students and staff gathered at a press conference where the news was announced that USD Board Chairman Don Knauss, and his wife, Ellie, had increased their philanthropic giving to the university to total $50 million.

“In honor of their remarkable gift, we now, today, in this moment and forever more, announce that the business school at this university will be known as the Knauss School of Business,” President James T. Harris III said, as a billboard-sized image of the new school logo premiered in public for the first time. He went on to explain that the new building in which the Knauss School of Business will be housed will be known as the Knauss Center for Business Education .

Born and raised in Mexico, Sioma Waisburd ‘03 (BBA, BA) is the co-founder of Chosen Foods and a passionate ambassador for both his culture and the extraordinary nutritional benefits of ancient foods including avocado oil. We caught up with Sioma recently to talk about his Hispanic heritage and how it has influenced his personal and professional endeavors today. His stories and experiences demonstrate an unwavering dedication to do good for society, especially within the Hispanic community.

MBA alumnus Stephan Aarstol ’99, founder and CEO of Tower Stand Up Paddle Boards, used his class assignments to develop his business plan. After pitching his big idea on ABC's "Shark Tank" and landing a deal with Mark Cuban, Tower was named the #1 fastest growing company in San Diego in 2014.

When Ike Ekeh decided to pursue his MBA degree from the University of San Diego's Knauss School of Business, little did he know he would emerge just 24 months later with two master’s degrees — an MBA and a master's in finance — and a job opportunity as a portfolio manager for a prestigious investment firm.

When one of the most cited experts in supply chain is a professor on campus, you make sure that students have the opportunity to learn from the best. In the Sustainable Global Supply Chain Management class at the University of San Diego, undergraduate business students learn about sustainable supply chain business practices straight from one of the leading experts in the field, Professor of Supply Chain Management Simon Croom .

Did you know that San Diego is a supply chain town? That’s right — there are way more supply chain jobs in San Diego than employers can hire for!