EMILY SOCHA ’16
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Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM), Applied Analytics h o m e t o w n : Plantsville, CT pat h : Supply chain management field majors:
A self-proclaimed “supply chain nerd,” Socha halted her college search and made Bryant her first choice after a conversation with Associate Professor of Marketing Michael Gravier at a Fall Open House on campus. After 12 years as an Air Force logistics officer, Gravier earned his Ph.D. in a top-five logistics program, and now teaches supply chain management and marketing. Socha was looking for an internship at an organization that had a complex supply chain, and the aerospace industry was just the right fit. She recently completed her third internship at United Technologies Aerospace Systems in Windsor Locks, CT. When she first interviewed, her GSCM major stood out, she says.
“Supply chain management is a growing and extremely important function in all companies, and they are looking for talent,” she says. “My two majors, Applied Analytics and GSCM, go hand-in-hand. In our data-driven world, companies want people who can understand, manipulate, and draw conclusions from large data. Having data is important, but knowing what to do with it is the key.” Socha, who is currently exploring full-time opportunities, is one of the few college students in the country to receive the prestigious 2015 R. Gene Richter Scholarship award, granted by the Institute for Supply Management to only eight undergraduates from thousands who apply. “My dream job would be to help a company’s supply chains become more eco-friendly, sustainable, and beneficial to all the communities that the supply chain touches,” she says.
JASON FORTIN ’12
MADUKA NWANEKEZI ’14, ’15 MBA
m a j o r : Global
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After three years as a senior strategy analyst at Gannett, an international media and marketing solutions company, Fortin headed back to the classroom. He recently entered the two-year MBA program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, concentrating in finance and strategic management.
Nwanekezi participated in three summer internships at PwC, where he worked with clients in the auditing practice. “My first year at PwC showed me that accounting is not just about auditing and taxation,” he says. “I became very interested in their advisory practice because consulting is the type of work I would like to do in Nigeria, where my family is from.”
Studies (Global Politics) Business Administration h o m e t o w n : Pomfret, CT pat h : MBA at University of Chicago Booth School of Business
While at Bryant, Fortin interned at the Brookings Institution, a renowned think tank in Washington, D.C., and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in Beijing, China, where he wrote policy briefs and conducted research for the center’s director. When launching his career, the Honors Program graduate networked to find people with contacts in Washington, D.C. Bryant’s Associate Professor of Management and Trustee Professor Mike Roberto, D.B.A., knew the interim vice president of human resources at Gannett Company in McLean, VA, an entrée that helped Fortin secure a strategy analyst position. “The opportunities [at Gannett] to learn were boundless, and it was a privilege to be involved in that type of work,” he says. From his very first internship, Fortin’s managers were impressed with the cross-disciplinary nature of his skills. “They liked that I understood multiple sides of a problem – something I attribute to the blended curriculum of liberal arts and business at Bryant,” he says.
“I place an extremely high value on my Bryant education. It has opened countless doors and provided unparalleled opportunities for me academically, personally, and career-wise.” www.bryant.edu/ bryantvideos
Accounting International Affairs h o m e t o w n : Milton, MA pat h : PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Boston
Nwanekezi first learned about the internships through Bryant’s award-winning Amica Center for Career Education. “Bryant provided me with the skills and confidence to do well at PwC,” he says. “I learned to work with others in a group setting and developed my public speaking skills due to the many classes at Bryant that involve presentations. “My international affairs background gives me a sense of the world today.” When Nwanekezi first visited Bryant, he fell in love with the campus. Even more importantly, he felt it was a place where he would thrive academically and athletically. As defensive end for the Bulldog football team, he started every game during his four years as an undergraduate.
“Bryant has exceeded my expectations,” he says. “More than half of the people I know had jobs lined up in September of their senior year.” www.bryant.edu/ bryantvideos