Meet 3 Dynamic Duos at Minnesota Carlson

Fueled by ideas. Powered by partnership. Driven by change. Together at Minnesota Carlson and beyond, three dynamic duos—Professor Mary Benner, ’82 College of Liberal Arts, and Professor Joel Waldfogel; Elizabeth Emery, ’18 MBA, and Adam Rao, ’17 MBA; and Shelly and Samantha Soupir, both ’25 MBA—spark innovation, support each other’s ambitions, and show what’s possible when two people share a vision, challenge one another, and grow side by side.

Faculty Couple With a Lifetime of Gopher Pride

Over the last 15 years, Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship Professors Mary Benner and Joel Waldfogel have cemented their place at Minnesota Carlson, taking on several roles, including leadership positions. But their love for the maroon and gold goes back decades.

The couple’s ties to the University of Minnesota are found throughout their lives. Waldfogel grew up visiting his father’s office in Jones Hall as a youngster. Melvin Waldfogel taught at the University for three decades as part of the Art History faculty. Father and son even graced a cover of one of the summer phone directories in the early ’80s, posing in the doorway to Jones Hall. Years later, Benner’s connection to the University came when she earned a degree in Economics as a first-generation college student from Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

The two, who have been married for 33 years, first met in Boston, bonding over their Minnesota ties while working for the same company. When ready to marry, they returned to their mutual roots, saying their vows at the University of Minnesota’s Campus Club at Coffman Memorial Union.

“My dad had been retired, but he was still a member of the Campus Club,” Waldfogel says. That’s how the couple ended up saying “I do” at the U.

In 2010, the couple came to Carlson to teach. Currently, Benner is the associate dean for the Undergraduate Program and the John and Nancy Lindahl Professor for Excellence in Business Education in the Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship Department. Waldfogel is the Frederick R. Kappel Chair in Applied Economics in the same department.

“Some people think it would be too much to work in the same place as your spouse, but we’ve enjoyed it,” Benner says.

Adds Waldfogel, a former associate dean for the MBA program: “The research that professors do is sometimes mysterious to the rest of the world. Mary and I have written papers together. We understand each other’s tasks and responsibilities as researchers and scholars. It’s easier when you have someone at home who understands this career’s highs and lows.”

The couple has a strong mutual respect. Benner says she’s in awe of Waldfogel’s prolific output of research. Waldfogel admires Benner’s multiple leadership roles, including as co-editor-in-chief of the Strategic Management Journal. The two have enjoyed collaborating, including on a recent paper exploring the digitization in movies and music, and the influence of digital technologies on how companies in those industries behave.

Benner says she and Waldfogel have taken on leadership roles at Carlson because they are invested in the school’s future. She says it’s rewarding to set a vision that people are committed to and watch it being lived out.

“We care about the success of Carlson,” says Benner, former chair of the Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship Department. “I’m inspired by the land grant mission and what we do for undergraduates from Minnesota. We’re educating and training these capable young people who often return to work for companies in the state. I feel committed to whatever I can do to make all this work.” 

Advancing Careers With Love

Elizabeth Emery, ’18 MBA, and Adam Rao, ’17 MBA, arrived at Minnesota Carlson to advance their careers. Little did they know, they’d also find love.

“I initially knew him because he was the Accounting TA,” Emery says. “Mutual friends observed that he and I should probably be friends. They were right.”

Over the past decade, the couple, who married in 2020, has found success in their personal and professional aspirations. Inspired to pursue an MBA, Emery, who had a liberal arts degree and managerial experience, was looking for advanced business roles. On the other hand, Rao wanted to pivot from work as a nonprofit entrepreneur and executive to the for-profit social impact sector and needed to sharpen his financial chops to go “from amateur to pro.”

The couple is now leading each of their companies. Emery is president of Paper Roll Products, an employee-owned company that sells and distributes receipt paper rolls and other point-of-sale consumables. She applies her “utility player” skills in her role as an integrator, executing vision and focusing on operational improvement. Rao is CEO of Triple20, a trade show exhibit company he transformed into a social impact enterprise. An entrepreneur at heart, Rao describes himself as a “control freak” and “visionary” who excels at setting the company’s direction.

“These are critical leadership roles, especially in organizations of the size that we’re leading,” Emery says. “From that perspective, we have complementary talents that allow us not to be competitive. We use each other as sounding boards, even if it’s just working through some things out loud to get another perspective. We’ve each gone on our own paths, but we can lean on each other and give each other that space to be ready to pursue the next thing or take a leap.”

Despite their busy schedules, the couple remains committed to giving back. Their history of recruiting at Carlson is a testament to their belief in the school’s students. Emery now serves as a contract coach in the Carlson Business Career Center, while Rao shares his expertise through guest lectures in Finance and Entrepreneurship classes. 

“It’s this idea of passing the baton,” Rao says. “When you’re a visionary leader, doing something successfully is important. Being able to replicate it in others is even more important. ... I believe business can and should be a force for good. It’s one of the most consequential ways to transform the world by making money and making a difference. That allows us to sustain the activity through thick and thin, while also doing good. If there’s a future for that movement, that will have to come from people behind me and younger than me.”

Mother and Daughter Earn MBAs Together

This spring, Shelly and Samantha Soupir, both ’25 MBA, each walked the stage during Carlson’s commencement ceremony. It was more than just a diploma for this mother and daughter team, who earned their business degrees together three years after enrolling in the Online MBA program. The moment marked the realization of a goal—for Shelly, it was one decades in the making.

“It’s an experience that when you look at life’s plan for you, it was meant to happen at the time,” Shelly reflects. “It’s made me a better person having the chance to go on this journey with my daughter. It’s just true joy, knowing that I got to do something that I always wanted to do but never thought I would be able to do, and then I experienced it with one of my favorite people in the world. It’s one of those priceless experiences.”

For years, family members close to Shelly earned advanced higher education degrees, but the timing to pursue her own never quite worked out. That is, until a conversation several years ago with her daughter, Samantha, caught her by surprise.

“I was talking to my mom about my goals for my professional career and how, for me, the only way that I can advance is to either get experience or go back and continue my education,” Samantha remembers. “And my mom was like, ‘Well, you should go get your MBA.’ And I was like, ‘Well, why have you never gotten your MBA?’ Then I told her, ‘I’ll go back if you go back.’”

No stranger to challenges, this MBA journey came right on the heels of the mother-daughter duo running together in the Boston Marathon. Samantha started her courses in Spring 2022, and, after completing a pre-MBA math course, Shelly began her classes that fall, 30 years since her last college class.

“When I would tell people I was getting my MBA, they would say, ‘Why would you do that now?’ There’s a belief your life ends when you get to a certain age. It doesn’t,” Shelly says.

The two balanced full course loads amid working full-time, staying connected with classmates across the country. The mother-daughter relationship provided not only a built-in study buddy, but also friendly competition on assignments as they motivated each other along the way.

Being at different stages in their careers meant each took away something different from the program. For Samantha, who works in brand management, it was learning more about finance; for Shelly, it was applying artificial intelligence in the business setting. 

Samantha says she’s proud to see her mom set a powerful example for her and her younger sisters.

“I look at her going back after some time,” Samantha says. “I think it just shows us that there is no timeline and it’s all meant to happen when it’s supposed to happen, but to continue pursuing what makes you excited.”

Photos by Pat Vasquez-Cunningham