Thanks to the generosity of a Haslam College of Business Aerospace & Defense MBA alumnus, two current ADMBA students recently received scholarships. The Aerospace & Defense Advisory Board presented Joshua Lazarus and Katherine “Katie” Starck with the scholarships in the spring. The two will graduate in December 2019.
Starck serves as the enterprise operations manager for engineering research and consulting (ERC), Inc. in support of the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center in Alabama. Lazarus is a senior subcontract manager for Lockheed Martin, missiles and fire control, in Kentucky.
For Starck, the scholarship helped lessen a financial strain.
“It means so much to me and my family,” she says. “Enrolling in the ADMBA program was a tough decision, knowing that we would be paying for the majority of it, but this scholarship and the support of the Haslam ADMBA staff has helped ease the burden.”
The investment, she adds, is already paying off.
“This program is tailored in such a way that I’m able to apply the skills and knowledge I’m gaining from class almost instantly to my daily work life,” she says.
Lazarus feels honored to have been chosen from among his cohort to receive the scholarship. “Every student in my cohort brings talent and experience to the table from which I have greatly benefited,” he says.
He also has appreciates the comprehensive nature of the course.
“The program is well-rounded,” he says. “In addition to what I would consider typical MBA business courses like finance and accounting, it provides instruction and training in management and leadership from an evidence-based perspective. The program fulfills a great need in today’s professional and educational market.”
The scholarships were made possible through a donation by DeWayne Allen. Allen, an ADMBA program alumnus and advisory board member who is the director of customer & account management at Collins Aerospace, says he made the donation because he believes in the value of the program to its student-professionals.
“The most valuable part of the program is the network of classmates that are dispersed throughout the aerospace and defense industry,” Allen says.
Ben Skipper, executive director of aerospace & defense at the Haslam College of Business, says that the board hopes to make these monetary awards an annual tradition.
“These scholarships are the first of many annual awards that we hope to give,” Skipper says. “In addition to scholarships, donations to the Aerospace & Defense Excellence fund will be used to enhance the student experience.”
The Haslam Aerospace & Defense MBA Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provides government, military and aerospace and defense industry professionals an opportunity to learn from both professors and industry experts while continuing to work. It pushes students to improve processes, achieve higher goals and conduct a transformative final project.
