Gabe Garfield spent several years as a meteorologist and research scientist with the National Weather Service in Oklahoma before joining the MBA program in UT’s Haslam College of Business in 2018. He worked on numerical weather modeling, including the development of a 3-D tornado model.

“At NWS, I was on a team that produced a cutting-edge model that predicted a major tornado 90 minutes before it hit,” he says. “Being part of that was very exciting.”

Eventually, Garfield realized his interests and ambitions were calling him in another direction.

“I’ve always been interested in business and wanted to know how things function,” he says.

After hearing positive reviews, Garfield decided to apply to Haslam.

“I’m so glad I did,” he says. “It’s top notch, and the instructors have been incredible.”

He’s involved with the Tennessee Organization of MBAs, the Big Orange Consulting Group, and the student-managed Torch Fund in the Master’s Investment Learning Center.

“It’s really exciting because students have the opportunity to give buying, selling and holding recommendations,” he says.

Garfield notes that an unexpected benefit of the Haslam MBA program is having the opportunity to work and learn in a high-intensity setting.

“It shows where you can improve your leadership and communication skills, and you can see how much you can actually get done in two months’ time if you have deadlines,” he says. “The workload is so heavy, but looking back, I can see how much I’ve been able to learn and accomplish. You gain the skill of learning something on the go. That gives me great confidence that when I’m put into a new situation, I can learn from it very quickly.”

In the future, Garfield hopes to be involved with consumer-packaged goods in a Fortune 500 company, perhaps in a management capacity. The MBA program keeps him on his toes, but when he has a little free time, he enjoys reading, spending time with his wife and going storm chasing.