Year in Review: 2022 at Leeds
Looking Back, Moving Ahead
Uncertainty continues to reign, whether you are a business or a business school. In spite of the broader challenges facing the economy and society, Leeds enjoyed an incredible year—welcoming an impressive class of students, sharing impactful discoveries, and working alongside alumni, partners and friends to make a top business education accessible to all.
Here are a few of the stories we're most proud to share this year.
Top Stories
Worth Sharing
Born to Run
How does chasing after a full-grown buffalo make you a better professional? Leeds alumni share how their time in the Ralphie handler program helped shape their careers.
Driving Excitement
Claire McCollough became the first college student to win Alteryx’s global Grand Prix competition, which pit her against the most accomplished users of the platform. Her perspectives on tech and business are why the company supports scholarships at Leeds.
Cachet in Finance
The Burridge Center for Finance brought on Sheila Duffy, an accomplished mentor and finance expert with Wall Street experience, to serve as its executive director. The Center celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year.
At Graduation, Reminders of Resilience
Graduation ceremonies at Leeds in the spring were an opportunity to reflect on what students learned by overcoming the uncertainty of the pandemic. Here’s a look at the post-grad plans of some top students, as well as the prestigious University Medal conferred on Michael Leeds during the ceremony.
Aligning Business and Tech—and Teeth
Two PhD students studying materials science created a startup designed to 3D print dental aligners. If Vitro3D becomes the success its co-founders envision, it will be in part because of the growing collaboration between Leeds and the College of Engineering & Applied Science.
Take Two Classes and Call Me in the Morning
Leeds, in partnership with the College of Nursing at CU Anschutz, has created a healthcare-focused track in its master’s program in business analytics. It’s designed to help practitioners better leverage data in driving smarter healthcare decisions.
Guiding Lights
Leeds alumni are eager to share their experiences with students and fellow graduates. In the spring, Clark Jones (Acct’91), a vice president at Disney, offered guidance to students looking for ways to distinguish themselves professionally. And the Leeds Business Insights podcast series has offered a platform for distinguished alumni to share their perspectives and insights with fellow Business Buffs.
Student Spotlight: Undergraduate Class of 2026
The fall 2022 freshman cohort is among the largest, most diverse and most academically qualified in Leeds' history.
651
total enrollment
(2.7% increase)
3.89
average GPA
(up from 3.87)
30.68
average ACT score
(up from 30.64)
1347
average SAT score
(up from 1332)
49 %
female
(up 5 percentage points)
From the Magazine
The Business at Leeds alumni magazine dropped in November. Here are a few highlights worth another mention.
Change was once said to be constant. Today, that fails to capture the relentless pace of disruption in business. Leeds is finding new ways to bring agility to the classroom, the research lab—and the business world.
Thanks to industry input, curricular updates and customizable study plans, the Leeds MBA has remained a crucial credential for those looking to advance their careers amid ceaseless change.
It’s not tech, data or hybrid work. It’s climate. And one Leeds professor says it’s entrepreneurs who will steer us out of crisis. Meet a student team trying to curb emissions and an alumna whose nonprofit is making waves for ocean conservation.
Thought Leadership
The $52 billion federal package to incentivize U.S. production of semiconductor chips may not end the dramatic shortages that have pinched supply chains, a Leeds expert said.
The Deming Center visited the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel, to teach scientists how to think entrepreneurially about their breakthroughs in ways that create impact.
Tickets to the Stanley Cup Final ran for north of $50,000 apiece on the secondary market. A Leeds expert shed light on this opaque market.
When Trust Goes Bust
Dejun “Tony” Kong won a Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management for his work on trust trajectories and how they can predict a company’s performance during times of great stress, such as pandemic, economic crisis or political upheaval.
Data Quality
Leeds hosted representatives from industry and nearly two dozen universities to consider the most effective way to structure a business analytics program to meet advances in data science and increasing demands in industry.
A Reliable Forecaster for Weathering the Economy
BizWest named Richard Wobbekind to its list of most influential people in business, praising the popular prognosticator’s penchant for predicting economic trends. Wobbekind and the Business Research Division have been hot commodities as industry tries to figure out what’s next for the economy.
Faces of Leeds
Faces of Leeds showcases the stories of the individuals who make our community such a unique, exciting place. Know someone with a great story to share? Tell us!
When she dropped out of high school to work full time, Taylor felt stuck as a waitress. A stint with the U.S. Navy helped her break out, and a pair of CU degrees—including an MBA—put her on the fast track at Ericsson.
Joe’s first tour through Koelbel was to empty the recycling bins. From facilities management, he worked his way into HR before enrolling at Leeds, which changed his life: “Now, I want to do something meaningful with my work.”
After graduation, Jordyn took her dream job in HR decision science at Disney. “My goal is to do work that helps everyone feel that they’re represented and belong,” she says.
While Kai Suematsu and Samariddin Meliboev were at Leeds, the foundation they created delivered more than 150,000 meals to the needy amid COVID while raising $15,000 in scholarships.
It was all downhill for Magda from the moment she enrolled at Leeds. The alpine skier spent much of her first year in Europe, training for, and competing in, the 2022 Winter Olympics with her native Poland.
For Kristin, turning down an internship opportunity was the start of a meaningful career in innovation and strategy consulting. Her Leeds MBA “has paid dividends that I never even imagined.”
Alumni Participation By the Numbers
10,020 alumni and friends participated in Leeds programming
1,615 alumni and friends are mentors for Leeds students
(50% increase from 2021)
2,596 individuals made a gift to Leeds
(3% increase from 2021)
765 Leeds students received donor-funded scholarships
(11% increase from 2021)