Daniels Alumni
Our alumni are Daniels' greatest success stories.
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Philip ClellandMS Marketing, 2009Undergraduate degree:BA, 2005 (Political Science) University of Arizona Hometown:Tucson, Arizona Current job:Legislative Aide, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet |
For Philip Clelland, being a Daniels graduate student during the 2008 Democratic National Convention helped shape his career plans. "I was really invigorated by the DNC and the excitement here in Denver," he says. "All of that made me realize what I wanted to do: work in communications for someone in Congress." As an undergraduate, Clelland spent four years working in the University of Arizona's athletic media relations office. After graduating, he took a public relations graduate internship with his favorite football team, the Denver Broncos. And during his time at Daniels, Clelland was an intern at Mayor John Hickenlooper's office.
Why Daniels' MS marketing program? "I wanted a program that would help me combine my political science degree and communications experience. I like the idea of strategic communications," says Clelland. "The values-based leadership component of Daniels was big for me. I loved the focus on the fact that profits are not the only goal of businesses today."
After graduating in 2009, Clelland headed to Washington D.C. to pursue his dream. Today, he is the legislative aide for Colorado's own Senator Michael Bennet and says that one day, he may be back in Colorado running for state legislature. "Denver is one of the most beautiful cities in the country," he says. "And at Daniels, you walk into this place where immediately, you're engaged. That sense of community made my student experience."
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Charlie CoggeshallMBA, 2009Undergraduate degree:BS, 2001 (Community Development and Applied Economics) University of Vermont Hometown:Bethesda, Maryland Current job:New West Technologies, Energy Analyst |
In just two years at the Daniels College of Business, Charlie Coggeshall proved that he had the makings of an influential environmental activist. Upon his arrival in the fall of 2006, Coggeshall got involved with Net Impact, taking the helm as president his second year. He also helped found the now dormant DU Sustainable Energy Society, conducted a greenhouse gas inventory at Daniels, was on the DU Sustainability Council and spearheaded a number of other events, panels and demonstrations related to environmental and sustainability issues.
Coggeshall's greatest legacy, however, is the Daniels recycling program that he launched with classmate, Jeff Malcolm, which led to the creation of the chief sustainability officer position that Coggeshall and Malcolm shared their final year. Their efforts won them second place in Net Impact's 2008 Green Challenge.
For Coggeshall, Daniels was a perfect fit for his career path. "I really liked the idea of getting a concentration in environmental policy, which Daniels offers," he says. Today, he's grateful for his Daniels experience both in and outside of the classroom. "Everything I did at Daniels was great practice for my career. I used finance, marketing, leadership, management all the things you need to bring together when running a successful business. I enjoyed the professors, made great friends and built a solid network."
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Kyle HansonMBA, 2005Undergraduate degree:BS, 1998 (Business International Marketing, French minor) Montana State University Hometown:Bozeman, Montana Current job:Co-owner, TwoMedicine Health & Financial Fitness |
After two years competing in Europe as a professional tennis player, Kyle Hanson landed a position coaching tennis at Cherry Hills Country Club. Before long, he started looking at business schools in the area and came across the Daniels College of Business.
"The decision to attend Daniels was easy",says Hanson. "Everyone was open-minded about my background and the fact that I wasn't coming out of an investment bank". Hanson started his program in 2001, but took a three-year break to move back east (his wife attended graduate school at the University of Virginia). Hanson returned to Denver in 2004 and picked up right where he left off. "When I came back, Daniels had launched the Compass curriculum. I liked what I saw and was eager to finish what I'd started".
After graduating in 2005, Hanson became the operating officer of TwoMedicine Health & Financial Fitness, a firm that aims to help clients implement employee-driven, long-term strategies to improve employees' health and simultaneously reduce health care costs. He admits that Daniels instilled in him the same commitment to ethics that is so important to the TwoMedicine team. "Daniels taught me about doing good while doing well, and that sort of integrity is a big part of TwoMedicine's mission he says. We look forward to the day that our country doesn't need services like ours".
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Bobbe HirshMSBA, 1975Undergraduate degree:A.B., 197, Brown University J.D., 1980, Harvard Law School Hometown:Chicago, Illinois Current job:Partner, K&L Gates Chicago |
After growing up in Chicago and earning a bachelor's at Brown University, Bobbe Hirsh came to the University of Denver in 1973 to pursue a master's in accounting. "I thought DU¡¯s College of Business had one of the strongest accounting programs in the country," says Hirsh, the daughter of a CPA. Her final semester at Daniels, Hirsh interviewed with all Big Eight accounting firms, received offers from five, and took a position with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell (now KPMG) back in Chicago. She sat for the Colorado CPA exam and received the highest score in the state.
Eventually Hirsh fell in love with tax law and made her way to Harvard Law. She started her law career at Baker & McKenzie in New York and later worked in the international tax practices of three other law firms and an accounting and business advisory firm. Today, she is a partner with K&L Gates in Chicago, a 1,900-person law firm with 32 offices on three continents. "I simply could not have been as successful without DU," Hirsh says. "It was the underpinning for my career, and that foundation in accounting is invaluable, being the kind of attorney I am today."
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Tara HolmbergMBA, 2009Undergraduate degree:BSBA, 2004 (Hotel Administration), Cornell University Hometown:Charlotte, Vermont Current job:Financial Analyst, National Park Service |
As an undergraduate, Tara Holmberg thought she'd become a chef. "I took several culinary classes and even spent a summer working at a high-end restaurant at the Fairmount in Banff, Alberta, but decided it wasn't for me," says Holmberg. Instead, Holmberg started her career in hospitality, working for the Trumbull Marriot in Connecticut as a director of revenue management and an analyst for CB Richard Ellis in New York City. In 2007, Holmberg and her husband, a Colorado native, came westward. She wasted no time applying to and enrolling at the Daniels College of Business.
"Daniels felt like a place where I could still get an MBA but have a much more well-rounded education," says Holmberg, now a financial analyst for the National Park Service¡¯s commercial service program in Denver. "When I left New York, I knew I wanted to do something different than the typical corporate business track¡ªsomething that focused on sustainability and nonprofit work. Daniels stood out."
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Katrina JohnsonBSBA, 2008Hometown:Colorado Springs, Colorado Current job:Marketing Assistant, Local Insight Media |
After transferring her freshman year from Elon University to the University of Denver, it didn't take but one quarter for Katrina Johnson to discover marketing was her niche. "Some great Daniels professors helped me realize how creative I could be in this field," says Johnson. When she graduated amid one of the worst job markets in history, Johnson got lucky. She landed at the Berry Company, a subsidiary of Denver-based Local Insight Media, the fifth-largest yellow pages company in the country. "I love it. I get to market a product, which is exactly what I always envisioned myself doing."
What does Katrina's future hold? "I see myself continuing to climb the ladder, and I've thought about enrolling in a dual J.D./MBA program eventually," she says. "I love marketing and business, so I look forward to progressing in my career."
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Dafna MichaelsonMBA, 2001Undergraduate degree:BA, 1995 (Music and Drama), Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women Hometown:Cincinnati, Ohio Current job:President and Founder, The Journey Institute |
For Dafna Michaelson, 2009 was a journey unlike any other¡ªwith more sky miles logged than most people could fathom. Michaelson spent all 52 weeks of the year traveling the 50 states "to meet the people who are moving America forward and helping to solve community problems"¡ªthe mantra of her 50 in 52 Journey. Upon completing the year (Colorado was her final state), she launched the Journey Institute on New Year's Day 2010, which continues the mission of the Journey.
Michaelson has a resume brimming with community building and nonprofit leadership positions. Prior to her days as a journeywoman, she was the director of volunteer services at Denver Health, the director of the DU Holocaust Awareness Institute and a member of the 2008 class of Leadership Denver.
Michaelson says that more education is in her future (specifically a Ph.D. in social change and religion through the DU-Iliff School of Theology program), as is running for a political office one day. "When I graduated from Daniels, I felt very clear on how I could have an impact and how I could best contribute to my community," she says. "It wasn't just business knowledge I gained-it was the ability to make a difference."
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Chris StewartMBA, 2009Undergraduate degree:BJ, 2002, Missouri School of Journalism Hometown:Saint Louis, Missouri Current job:Senior Communicator, National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
After three and a half years as the DU director of web communications and three years as a Daniels MBA student-Chris Stewart was ready for the next chapter in his career. As he neared his Spring 2009 graduation, Stewart narrowed his job search to the renewable energy industry, which had piqued his interest early in his program. "I felt that the National Renewable Energy Lab was the obvious place to begin my post-MBA career," says Stewart. "That was the place I went after."
Stewart mined NREL's website for jobs, tapped his professional network for connections and waited. He had one interview, but after not getting the job, decided to find a way to improve his chances for next time. He got an internship with the Governor's Energy Office.
In March 2009, Stewart was hired as a senior communicator at NREL-chosen from more than 200 applicants. "I think through my internship and education, I'd demonstrated my commitment to this kind of work," he says. Stewart admits that several Daniels professors inspired him to gravitate toward renewable energy, but it was the Compass curriculum that solidified his interest. "Daniels' emphasis on ethics and sustainable business practices is the only reason I ended up choosing to work in this space. Now, I get to work in a job where that values-based mindset is crucial.
