Poets&Quants Names Carlson School Duo Among Best and Brightest Executive MBA Students

Friday, July 29, 2022

The Carlson School Executive MBA Program (CEMBA) brings together top students from all different backgrounds and industries.

Two of those students were selected by Poets&Quants as the “Best and Brightest Executive MBA students” in the country.

Samuel Andrews and Alysa Ulstad were chosen for the honor by Poets&Quants, an online news source that covers business schools. A total of 100 were chosen from the top programs across the country.

Both Andrews and Ulstad took very different paths to get to the CEMBA program. Andrews is recently retired from the military after serving nearly 27 years. He chose the Carlson School because of the school’s veterans initiative, which offers specialized support to servicemen and women and veterans who wish to pursue a world-class business education. “The Carlson School of Management is committed to veterans’ growing career development, their emphasis on translating acquired military skills into the practice of business, and their access to a network of proven professionals and industries,” Andrews says. “The cohort-based class offers the best of adult learning while building lasting relationships.”

Samuel Andrews headshot

“The best investment you will make in your future is investing in your education—you will find driven professional classmates and professors who want you to be successful."

Samuel Andrews

The education, network, and experience that the Carlson School provided Andrews has enabled him to start a second meaningful career in healthcare. He was selected from a highly competitive group of recent MBA graduates from across the country to join the Corporate Leader Program at Optum.

He will use is experience from his military service and his education from the Carlson School to do his life’s best work to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone.

“The best investment you will make in your future is investing in your education—you will find driven professional classmates and professors who want you to be successful,” he says. “At the end of the program, you will find an employer seeking to acquire your talent.”

Read Andrews’ full profile here.

Ulstad came to the Carlson School while working as the director of systems engineering and clinical innovation at Marani Health. Marani is a health organization dedicated to the pregnancy care model by improving access, convenience, outcomes, and costs through its digital prenatal and postpartum care portfolio.

Alysa Ulstad headshot

“I have no doubt that juggling work, family, and education was well worth the effort.”

Alysa Ulstad

Ulstad’s work had a significant impact at the precipice of the COVID-19 pandemic when she contributed to the development and authorization of the Coventor device, a low-cost ventilator that serves as an alternative when traditional ventilators are not available.

“While I am extremely proud of all the medical devices I have contributed to in my career, Coventor exemplifies what is possible when private industries, academic institutions, and government agencies work in unison towards a common goal,” Ulstad says. “The Coventor experience will forever be a career highlight for me and something I hold with extreme pride.”

While she was in the program, her husband landed a job opportunity that had them relocate to Northeast Ohio. This led to a busy final year in the program, but Ulstad says she made the most of it.

“I have no doubt that juggling work, family, and education was well worth the effort,” she says.

Ulstad recently joined SPR Therapeutics as their director of new product development

Read Ulstad’s full profile here.