Explore the Global Executive MBA Experience for Active Duty Military
Alum Derek Burke (Global Executive MBA 2020) shares his experience pursuing an MBA at UW Foster while serving in the U.S. Army
“An MBA from a top business school such as UW Foster is great for anyone’s career, and that is no different in the military.” — Derek Burke, UW Foster School of Business Global Executive MBA 2020
In this Foster spotlight, we have the honor of hearing directly from Derek Burke (Global Executive MBA 2020) about his experience earning a Global Executive MBA at the UW Foster School of Business while serving in the U.S. Army. At the time of this interview in 2023, Burke was stationed in Oberammergau, Germany, where he served as Course Director and Instructor at the NATO School.
Please tell us about your background before joining the Global Executive MBA at UW Foster and your military career.
As a Seattle area native, I have served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, both as an enlisted and officer. I had zero business world experience but a wealth of leadership experience. Prior to attending the UW Global Executive MBA program, I was a senior Company Grade officer, having just completed Company Command with a broadening assignment at the U.S. Army National Training Center. Following Global Executive MBA graduation, I was promoted to Major and currently serve as a course director and instructor at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany, where I direct and teach Joint Plans and Operations Courses. In the summer of 2023, I will transition to a Battalion Operations/Executive Officer role.
“The leadership and ethics courses, team-oriented assignments, and presentations offered throughout the Global Executive MBA program directly apply to military service.” — Derek Burke, UW Foster School of Business Global Executive MBA 2020
The U.S. military invested in you to be part of the UW Global Executive MBA program. How important was that experience in helping you to continue growing and advancing in your career?
An MBA from a top business school such as UW Foster is great for anyone’s career, and that is no different in the military. It makes you extremely competitive for promotion and opens up other career options. I’ve since been contacted by other organizations within the Army (United States Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Army Marketing Officer Functional Area) and encouraged to apply for their opportunities as a result of the UW Global Executive MBA program.
The leadership and ethics courses, team-oriented assignments, and presentations offered throughout the Global Executive MBA program directly apply to military service. The operations management and quantitative modeling courses have been very useful in my current role teaching operations planning. I plan to eventually retire from military service and transition to the business world. Leveraging my Global Executive MBA experience and network, as well as the Foster School career services, will aid that transition when the time comes.
Through your Global Executive MBA experience, what has been one of the most important contributions you have made to the military? What aspect has been most applicable?
The daily interaction with the international cohort of students and cultural awareness courses has proved extremely valuable to my career. In my current role, I interact daily with students and staff from across the NATO alliance’s 30 countries. My experience in the Global Executive MBA not only gave me a better understanding of other cultures and how they communicate but also how I am perceived and communicate with people from different backgrounds.
I was in the Global Executive MBA class of 2020 when COVID hit. I was very impressed with the program and Foster staff and faculty, particularly their resilience and extreme flexibility in continuing to offer quality instruction. I’ve found myself on the faculty end of COVID here at the NATO school and have relied on my experience at the Foster School, employing some of the same course delivery methods I first saw there.
What advice would you give to a fellow military officer who is considering applying to the UW Global Executive MBA Program?
Give the UW Global Executive MBA program serious consideration. The instructor quality and professionalism, smaller class size, international executive classmate cohorts, access to the UW Foster clubs and programs, and guest speakers from the second-to-none Seattle business community all make the Global Executive MBA program a top choice for anyone considering an MBA.
As far as the military goes, I really liked that the program length is only one year. This gets you back to work sooner, and you end up owing the military less time on the back end. Having a smaller time commitment to the military gives you more options if transitioning from the military is part of your plan. I also really liked that, if sponsored by your organization, then the GRE/GMAT requirement is waived for the application process. That makes life much easier if you don’t have to take those exams and are still able to get into a top MBA program.
Any other comments/feedback you have about your Global Executive MBA program experience?
Aside from the obvious benefits of a Global Executive MBA education from a top business school such as UW Foster, the cohort nature of the course work and the opportunity to learn from your classmates was just as valuable as the formal instruction. The Global Executive MBA team does a great job bringing in professionals from various fields, making for a wonderful classroom environment. Everyone will have an area of expertise (accounting is not mine) that can help out the group and bring the team projects to a successful result. I enjoyed getting to know all my classmates so well throughout the course and value the relationships I now have with them.
Learn more about the Global Executive MBA at the UW Foster School of Business here.
Originally published at https://blog.foster.uw.edu on October 16, 2023.
