MBA alumni inspire students at networking event

— 12.10.21

by Caroline Mailer

On Thursday 30 September we gathered at Inox Dine for drinks and nibbles, to welcome our new MBA candidates to the Management School. Our MBAs had the chance to meet members of the Sheffield University Management School (SUMS) Advisory Board as well as our valued MBA alumni.

The Dean of the Management School Professor Rachael Finn, and our new MBA Director Dr Sabrina Thornton opened the event with introductions and reflected on the important journey ahead for our new MBA candidates. We also heard words of wisdom from O2 Telefónica's former Chief HR Officer, Ann Pickering, who is the Chair of our Advisory Board and a visiting professor of HRM and Employability at the Management School.

Our guests then enjoyed wine, soft drinks and canapés while they connected with each other for some informal networking. Our Advisory Board Members Teresa Hitchcock, Partner at DLA Piper, and Sue Douthwaite, Group Head of SME Banking at Virgin Money provided valuable and much appreciated advice and insight to our MBA candidates, drawing on their rich career experiences across the financial services and law industries.

The evening was an ideal opportunity for our students to begin developing and growing their network, and for our alumni to continue growing connections whilst sharing their experiences with the future generation of business leaders. We were really pleased to welcome some of our MBA alumni to the event, where we caught up with Meadowgate Dynamics' Management Consultant Richard Winfrow, Thermo Fisher Scientific's Senior Global Market Development Manager Ian Hill, Havells India Ltd's Business Manager Krishna Thumma, Infinite Innovations' Consultant Dr Peter Clayton, and our PhD candidates Stephanie Segura Rodas and Hamid Roodbari.

Our alumni talked enthusiastically with our new MBA candidates and shared their own experiences of having studied at SUMS, allowing our students a sneak peek into life after graduation and being all-round inspirations to our new cohort.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all our Management School alumni, students, staff and advisory board members who helped to make the evening a success.

We hope to see you all at our next networking event!

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