Perfect score
From medicine to marketing
Perfect score
On international exchange at Kellogg Graduate School of Management in the US, Keith Finlayson( MBA’ 00)( right) made the dean’ s Honour List – a special commendation for earning a grade point average( GPA) of 4.00.* It is the second consecutive year an AGSM exchange student at Kellogg has received this honour, which went to Darren Challis( MBA’ 99) in 1999, also for obtaining a perfect score of 4.00.
“ I found Kellogg quite similar to the AGSM in both the level of work required and also the way the two schools focus on teamwork,” says Finlayson. On points of difference, he noticed a lesser degree of cultural diversity in the student population at Kellogg, which also fields a far larger student body( some 1400 full-time MBAs).
“ I was struck, in teamwork and in consulting for Chicago-based firms, by the rather conflict-averse nature of the locals. I’ m a Queenslander and tend to be reasonably direct, which I think led to some getting used to on both sides.”
Despite having been the 49th Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition physicist in 1996, Finlayson was unprepared for Chicago’ s climate, once the“ big snowfalls and bitter cold” hit.
“ At first the city of Chicago, on the shores of the lake, reminded me of Sydney, but I was surprised by a winter that seemed colder than I remembered in Antarctica,” he says.
While currently investigating new m-commerce business opportunities and pursuing strategy consulting for Australian firms, Finlayson intends to go abroad once again. With his girlfriend studying in Oslo, he is brushing up on his Norwegian( he already speaks German) and is seeking a job in Europe. Having wintered in Chicago he is hoping to be well prepared for his next assignment.
* Students who receive a GPA of 3.75 or more receive the Kellogg dean’ s Honour List award.
From medicine to marketing
Soji Swaraj( MBA’ 00)( left) has won the 2001 UNSW Alumni Graduand Award for Achievement. The award honours exceptional contribution to the university and the broader community. Swaraj will be presented with a Dr Bert Flugelman sculpture at the UNSW alumni annual general meeting and president’ s reception on 18 April.
A specialist physician in endocrinology, Swaraj made a career-transition decision to study an MBA at the AGSM.“ I was curious as to whether I might have more strings to my bow; I wanted to know if I might be good at some other things,” he says.
In the process, Swaraj admits to discovering“ a heck of a lot” about himself while studying an MBA.
“ I was like a carpenter, a tradesman, coming into a commerce program that covered a lot of ground, from the tool kit accounting subjects through to
strategy and organisational behaviour,” says Swaraj.
“ I found it fascinating and learnt a lot in a short time. I also really enjoyed being at a business school that is probably the most international in the world in terms of its student mix.
“ I was particularly impressed with the teaching at the AGSM, some of which I thought was astonishing; people such as Jeremy Davis, John Roberts, Ujwal Kyande, Doug Foster and Tom Smith, to name a few, they’ re outstanding in the way they engage and challenge you, and succeed in changing the way you think.
“ I’ ve spent five years as a specialist physician and, while I adore my profession, I’ m now enjoying a‘ sabbatical’ for a few years to explore the opportunities the MBA has opened up for me.”
Swaraj is currently working for the Boston Consulting Group and in the future would like to make himself“ useful in crisis negotiation for an organisation like the United Nations or in public policy”.
www. agsm. edu. au AGSM | 23