Virtual Commencement Celebration June 13, 2020
Virtual Commencement CelebrationJune 13, 2020
Congratulations to the Class of 2020!
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With life comes change, and with change
comes opportunity. On behalf of everyone at
The Paul Merage School of Business, I offer
my sincere congratulations to you – and to all
those family and friends who have supported
you – as you embark on the next phase of
opportunity in your life. Despite the challenging
times that we – and the world – have faced
together, this is still a day of celebration for the
Class of 2020, and we are all reminded how hard
you have worked and how you have grown to enable
yourself to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.
This year, the Merage School graduates more than 970 leaders in
business, including those from our Undergraduate business major; our Full-Time MBA, Fully
Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Health Care Executive MBA programs; our three Specialty
Masters programs in Professional Accountancy, Finance, and Business Analytics, plus our
inaugural class of Masters in Innovation & Entrepreneurship; and our Doctoral program. Each
of you has earned a degree that will continue to pay dividends for the rest of your life.
The Merage School is proud of our part in developing world-ready visionary leaders who
will inspire trust, think critically, drive innovation, and challenge the status quo. Our rigorous
academic programs are taught in a purposefully collaborative setting surrounded by leading
global executives from our vibrant and supportive Orange County business community and
beyond. We are committed to our vision to be at the forefront of education and research
among globally preeminent business schools.
In the constantly evolving environment of a digitally-driven world, our world-class research
faculty are developing and disseminating the knowledge necessary for business and not-
for-profit communities to anticipate and take advantage of emerging challenges. A critical
component of economic success is effective and timely business strategies designed to
sustain profitable business growth. The Merage School’s strategic plan builds on the strength
of the school to deliver educational excellence valuing diversity, collaboration, inclusivity and
respect.
Today, you join an elite group of alumni across the globe. I encourage you to return to your
alma mater often, whether to seek further enrichment, expand your network, or to give
back to current students seeking your mentorship and support. You have a responsibility
as a proud Merage School alum to serve as an ambassador for the School; I hope we have
earned your enthusiasm and willingness to do so.
Finally, we at The Paul Merage School of Business thank you for the enrichment you have
brought to the School, for the lessons you have taught us, and for the opportunity to share in
your success on this special day.
We are the better for it, and will always continue to strive to be the very best.
Message from the DeanEric R. Spangenberg, PhD
Dean, The Paul Merage School of Business
Awards for Excellence
FULL-TIME MBAJoseph W. McGuire Award
Highest Grade Point Average
Matthew Klinger
George W. Brown Award
Overall Academic Excellence and Exceptional Service to The Paul Merage School of Business
Anita Justina Tse
Paul and Lilly Merage Visionary Award
Eleanor Lee Hoekstra
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Jovan Chandra Ardy
Dylan Manuel Barreira
Grant Foster
Kisoo Hong
Cheolmin Kim
James Kirby
Matthew Klinger
Jennifer Nam
David Ruff
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Mackenzie Cater
Megan Elizabeth Hannan
Roland Friedemann Peter Polzin
Scott Francis Refugio
Anita Justina Tse
FULLY EMPLOYED MBAHighest Grade Point Average
Camielle Compton
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Camielle Compton
Christopher Duran
Meng Fang
Paula Hervias
Samuel Hosseini
Tony Lu
Christine Ly
Madison Murphy
Timothy Neal
Justin Nguyen
Daniel Nystrom
Benjie Perez
Elizabeth Pianalto
Daniel Sepasi
Stephanie Smolka
Azadeh Vosoughian
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Harrison Burka
Christina Catabay
Paul Cho
Diana Higby
Lana Komleva
Peter Kulmaticki
Tina McClelland
Christian Moseley
Kristen Nishikuni
Michelle Reed
Meng Wang
James Weinstock
Colbert Yoshimura
Declan Zhou
EXECUTIVE MBAHighest Grade Point Average
Michael Valentine
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Byron Ferrise
Nick Iyer
Craig Smith
David Tropiano
Michael Valentine
Sridhar Vemuri
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Barton Nielsen
Santhanam Rajagopalan
Noosheen Rajendran
An Tran
Sergio Pena Valle
MASTER OF PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANCY Highest Grade Point Average
Natalie Turpin
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Alisha Blush
Yee Hyun Cho
Esam El-Sayed
Yang Hong
Vrinda Jagad
Wing Kwan Leung
Matthew Locklear
Khanh Luu
Robert Nelson
Tiffany Reber
Briana Shen
Kevin Stahl
Kevin Tran
Natalie Turpin
Ching-Yu Wang
Shao Li Xu
Yuqing Zhang
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Siqi An
Tianlong Lian
Chang Liu
Shinhyoung Park
Siqi Yu
Lifan Zhou
Eva Wang
Xiaoqian Cai
Bingqing Chen
Alexandra Hawk
Xiaodi Sun
Yitong Ye
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ANALYTICSHighest Grade Point Average
Drew Boyd
Yuan Liu
Clinton Ng
Dimple Singhania
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Drew Boyd
Alex Enriquez
Karen Fang
Matthew Littman
Yuan Liu
Vishnu Madan
Sonal Mendiratta
Clinton Ng
Saad Noman
Arpita Sharda
Dimple Singhania
Ai Ling Ting
Lisa Yuan
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Tammy Chiu
Jacob Chung
Anuja Dixit
Mark Hu
Vivian Kang
Steven Li
Martha Lin
Linxia Liu
Shan Pillaiyan
Chavi Singal
Shaun Vetrovec
Stella Yang
Howard Zhu
MASTER OF INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Highest Grade Point Average
Maxim Maximov
Ravi Parashar
Dean’s Scholar and Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Gerald Adams
Jon Freeman
Maxim Maximov
Ravi Parashar
Alina Wu
Beta Gamma Sigma Award
Michelle Liman
Sally Mai
Alaina McClue
BACHELOR OF ARTSAndrew J. Policano Award
Presented to the graduate who best represents the ideals of the Merage School
as demonstrated by both academic performance and contributions to the Merage School community.
Priyanka Deepak Pabari
Chancellor’s Award of Distinction Presented in collaboration with the UC Irvine Alumni Association, these graduating seniors represent exceptional
academic achievement and a commitment to cutting-edge research, leadership and service to UC Irvine.
Danielle Dauglash Heredia
Ran Gu
Claudia Vu
Katie Xiong
Exceptional Service AwardPresented to the graduate who demonstrated an extraordinary amount of service to the Merage School and/or on
behalf of the Merage School community.
Katie Xiong
Phi Beta Kappa**
Annie Chen
Christopher Cordes
Rachel Dunkin
Danielle Dauglash Heredia
Lisa Hong
Renee Navarro
Micky Tuan Nguyen
Priyanka Deepak Pabari
Yasmeen Samimi
Melissa Santos Silva
Yinlu Tang
Timothy Toto
Bryan Vo
Claudia Vu
Nicole Anne Yonan
Xiuting Yu
Summa Cum Laude and Beta Gamma Sigma Award*
Annie Chen
Christopher Paul Cordes
Ran Gu
Jichen Li
Nicholas Tam
Lhanz Henrichson Tan Tan
Magna Cum Laude and Beta Gamma Sigma Award*
Yiqing Gao
Steven Minh Tan Lac
May Hien Lam
Jingyang Lin
Kristina Rana Macaluso
Renee Joelle Navarro
Ariana Nicole Otero
Priyanka Deepak Pabari
Yasmeen Samimi
Timothy William Toto
Xianyi Zhang
Chenlong Zhang
Cum Laude and Beta Gamma Sigma Award*
Anya Batmanian
Wei Chen
Carina Chou
Tiger Hong
Tan-Thien Le
Isaac Heewon Lee
Mai Le Tuong Luong
Lidya Manouilian
Eaindray Oo
Steven Mourad Terterian
Marian Ysobel Escobedo Tria
Cenyi Wang
Cum Laude Award*
Siming Chen
Haoyu Chen
Muhua Chen
Ivan Leo Chu
Cameron Javier De La Torre
Vivian M. Gip
Hayden Lyman Hosick
Aaron Kuo
Zhenghan Lin
Alexis Munoz
Micky Tuan Nguyen
Khanh Ngoc Kieu Nguyen
Jasmine Puentes
Niddhi Paresh Rambhia
Aaron Soetanto
Quyen Doan Tran
Sharon Wen
Yongwei Wu
Zhicheng Xiong
** Nominated
* Eligible for Honors at Graduation; will be awarded based on cumulative record at the end of the final quarter
Albert Ahn Activist Hedge Fund Board Representation and Its Impact
Chair: Margarethe Wiersema on Corporate Strategy
Ali Esmaeeli How Support Groups Can Benefit from Online Environments
Chairs: Robin Keller and
Connie Pechmann
Xiayo (Sylvia) Gao Evolution of Consumer Preference on Digital Platforms:
Chairs: Imran Currim and Implications on Search, Product and Pricing Strategies
Sanjeev Dewan
Haeyoung Koo The Behavioral Perspective of Hedge Fund Activism
Chair: Margarethe Wiersema
Shengjun Mao Search, Consumption, and Monetization in App Economy
Chair: Sanjeev Dewan Analytics
Hyewon Park Essays on the Effects of Social Identity on Market
Chair: Rajeev Tyagi Outcomes, Competition, and Reciprocity: Analytical and
Experimental Investigations
Anwida Prompijit Consumer Online Search Behavior: An Empirical Analysis
Chair: Vijay Gurbaxani
Punit Sharma The Impact of Cognitive Factors on Intra- and Inter-Firm
Chair: Margarethe Wiersema Innovation
Chenzhe Tian Applications of Machine Learning and Reinforcement
Chair: Zheng Sun Learning in Investment and Trading
Aruhn Venkat The Spillover Effects of Bank Taxes on Corporate Investment
Chair: Terry Shevlin
Mariella Zavala Disruptive Marketplaces: A Framework and Investigation of
Chairs: Tonya Bradford and the Role of Place in the Disruption of Social Norms
Alladi Venkatesh
Youqing Zhou The Value of Being First: Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows
Chair: Christopher Schwarz
Candidates for Doctor of Philosophy
Jovan Chandra Ardy
Dylan Manuel Barreira
Andrew Brown
Mackenzie Cater
Paige Christie
Nicolas Cook
Zsazsa Daniella
Denis Dariev
Gautam Deept
Samantha Elbaz
Cynthia Enriquez
Pranay Rama Rao Etoori
Grant Foster
Anthony Georgopoulos
Mariana Gomez
Megan Elizabeth Hannan
Oscar Hernandez Dominguez
Kisoo Hong
Andrew Hoverson
Matthew Hueber
Nathan Jasperse
Jin Hoon Jeong
Ameya Shripad Joshi
Christopher Karacic
Aleksandr Kim
Cheolmin Kim
James Kirby
Matthew Klinger
Brian Knight
Nam Serk Ko
Sriram Kumar
Jacob Lee
Eleanor Lee Hoekstra
Ivan Luiz Lopes De Almeida
Arneeb Ahmed Mahbub
Sanjay Mani
Jamie Merkler
Linh Linh Mikutowicz
Ujwal Mallikarjun Mishrikoti
Evangelina Molina
Hui Jun Moon
Jennifer Nam
Diana Hoang Nguyen
Loi Nguyen
Ikechukwu O. Nnadi
Brittany Ouyang
Seth Phelps
Roland Friedemann Peter Polzin
Scott Francis Refugio
Russell Rogers
Hang Ruan
David Ruff
Mohak Sahni
Gayatri Sambandamurthy Karthy
Fernando Serra De Souza
Shubham Sharma
Zoe Shiovitz
Bhawana Shukla
Suriti Singh
Parth Srivastav
Hana Su
Shivi Tandon
Juthawan Thongborisute
Tina Tsaur
Anita Justina Tse
Justice Turner
Amit Verma
Wenkai Wu
Xujing Yang
Kexuan Zhang
Candidates for Master of Business Administration
Full-Time MBA
Candidates for Master of Business Administration
Fully Employed MBA
Sheikh Aftab
Daniel Andrus
David Cesar Arroba
Kevin Barajas
Alyssa Barberio
Raymond Beck
Kristen Marie Berube
Shivangi Bhatnagar
Akshay R Bhavsar
Harsimranjit Bohgunh
Harrison Burka
Mario Bustos
Guillermo I Camps
Connie Cao
Diana Catalina Carrera
Christina Javier Catabay
Yifu Chen
Kiren Kaur Chima
Paul Cho
Camielle Compton
Zach Correa
Danielle Couture
Scott Coy
Kristen Marie Del Dosso
Dorin Dorin
Christopher Duran
Katherine Herron
Diego El Jechin
Meng Fang
David Gantz
Charissa J. Halim
Jake Hall
Paula Hervias
Diana Higby
Catherine Huang
Mitch Hughes
Joseph Hwang
Chathuri Kahaduwa
Gabriel George Kassaseya
Hanah Khaled
April Kim
Lana Komleva
Peter Kulmaticki
Selva Kumar
Jonathan Z Kwong
Vy Ngoc Khanh Le
Cory Leach
Nicole Lee
Raymond Leung
Ruoqi Liao
Annie Liu Yi
Xiaobin Lu
Tony Lu
Elizabeth Luce
Alexander Lucht
Stephanie Luo
Kenny Luong
Christine Ly
Ruben Maltos
Max Mao
Shawn Masoumi Alagha
Tina McClelland
Duncan McClure
Sean McCrann
Michael Miller
Marcus Minami
Alexander Miskinyar
Michael Molina
Carolina Montenegro
Carlos Mauricio Monterrosa
Behtash Moojedi
Rachel Moore
Cara Lynne Morin
David G. Morones
Dhyana Morris
Christian Moseley
Madison Murphy
Timothy nNeal
Thomas Neis
Reza K. Nezhad
Elizabeth Nguyen
Justin Nguyen
Lindsay Nguyen
Kristen Nishikuni
Huynh Nong
Daniel Nystrom
Anthony O’Rourke
Eddie Pak
Jeong Gyun Park
Justin Pasion
Vishal Patel
Dane Pavlik
Benjie Perez
Rajeev Peterson
Joseph Pham
Elizabeth Pianalto
Khaled Qolaghasi
Michelle K Reed
Fabian Romay
Yasaman Sadri
Alfredo Sandoval
Daniel Sepasi
Guaurav Singh
Stephanie Smolka
Eryn Sobing
Ameek Sodhi
Anthony Sogg
Chhannya Som
Gregory Steele
Stuart Stivers
Selina Su
Rong Sun
Julie Tan
Daniel Tantono
Asbed Tchoboian
Lotus Thai
Crystal Thomas
Mohan K Thota
Kristen Gabrielle Toledo
Michael Tralli
Spencer Gregory Pettaway Tyson
Emily Uy
Jeff Vos
Azadeh Vosoughian
Meng Wang
Wei Chih Wang
James Weinstock
Yan Wen
Theresa Karen Wong
Jin Xie
Tatsuya Todd Yamada
Colby Yoshimura
Dennis Raychun Young
Mahan Zabeti
Declan Zhou
Candidates for Master of Business Administration
Executive MBA
Ahmed Badr
Tanuja Bhandari
Kasandra Bowden
Carlos Castellanos
Erik Delgadillo
Angela Devlin
Matthew Dwight
Christopher Fandrey
Byron Ferrise
Gabrielle Fischer
Rosario Garza
Michael Gleason
Heriberto Guillen
Tianna Henderson
Christina Hernandez
Patrick Hu
Neeraj Iyer
Anil Jaiswal
Bradley Jones
Eunjoo Kim
Deepak Lakhiani
Travis Latendresse
Lawrence Lee
Morris Lifschutz
Dave Liu
Hossien Mashintchian
Daniel Merriman
Richard Nielsen
Sergio Pena Valle
Patrick Pitre
Neil Polzin
Reynaldo Quinones
Santhanam Rajagopalan
Noosheen Rajendran
Diana Ramos
Dean Schaefer
Kelley Shanabarger
Peter Shin
Yadab Sitaula
Brendon Smith
Craig Smith
Khaled Tawfik
Jains Thoppil Francis
Karl Tokita
An Tran
David Tropiano
Chidi Umeh
Michael Valentine
Sridhar Vemuri
Sunil Verma
Jonathan Vogel
Shahab Zahed
Siqi An
Jorge Andrade
Mahdi Bagherzadeh
Ziwei Bai
Fiona Beach
Alisha Blush
Xiaoqian Cai
Ernesto Carrillo
Wen-Kai Chang
Bingqing Chen
Haoxian Chen
Tzu-Yu Chen
Yongyin Chen
Zihao Chen
Chen Cheng
Christopher Cheng
Yee Hyun Cho
Erika Choy
Xiang Cui
Xue Cui
Jason Dayoub
Imane Dibiche
Kathia Elenes
Noiella Eliehmoshabad
Esam El-Sayed
Daniel Fernandez
Rongmei Gao
Anna Gevorkyan
Penglin Guo
Rui Guo
Yuwei Han
Alexandra Hawk
Preston Hiefield
Dung Hoang
Yang Hong
Lanxu Hou
Vy Hua
Vrinda Jagad
Lin Jia
Zhen Jia
Xinyu Jiang
Katherine Jiang
Jooho Jo
Malika Khamrayeva
Kern Khurana
Wei Lao
Eileen Lee
Wing Kwan Leung
Xianjie Li
Xiujun Li
Titi Li
Yuwei Li
Tianlong Lian
Shuang Lin
Aaric Lin
Chang Liu
Eileen Liu
Matthew Locklear
Jose Long
Jennifer Lopez
Yingying Luan
Ting Luo
Khanh Luu
Ayaz Malik
Jiayu Mao
Andy Matsumoto
Brianna Middleton
Eunji Min
Yim Ting Mok
Robert Nelson
Stephanie Nguyen
Lauren O’Sullivan
Shinhyoung Park
Omar Ramil
Tiffany Reber
Xinyi Ren
Adrianna Robles
Binant Sareen
Briana Shen
Jiayi Shen
Wei Shi
Yahuan Shu
Yilin Shu
Diane Sim
Kevin Stahl
Peng Li Su
Shidi Sun
Xiaodi Sun
Wanmeng Sun
Tian Tang
Marissa Thein
Jiahui Tian
Nasreen Torki
Alice Tran
Kevin Tran
Ngoc Bao Tran
Natalie Turpin
Ching-Yu Wang
Eva Wang
Yi Wang
Xinyue Wang
Meitong Wang
Kejing Wang
Lisihan Wang
Yan Wang
Kira Weaver
Shuning Wei
Emily Wei
Jingxian Weng
Limin Wu
Yue Wu
Zihui Wu
Zilin Xia
Zhuqing Xiao
Xiaolong Xiao
Yan Xie
Shenghua Xie
Shao Li Xu
Wenyu Xu
Lei Xu
Evelyn Yao
Yitong Ye
Siqi Yu
Elliot Zatzkis
Yuqing Zhang
Xi Zhang
Jie Zhang
Hanxing Zhang
Zhongling Zhao
Jinyao Zhao
Yuxi Zheng
Shiyun Zhong
Lifan Zhou
Xiaoying Zhou
Xuanlei Zhu
Candidates for Master of Professional Accountancy
Candidates for Master of Finance
Radhika Agarwal
Abdulatif Alzoman
Aadrika Arora
Anbei Bao
Grzegorz Borecki
Xiaohui Cai
Eileen Chen
Leizhu Chen
Qige Chen
Yingying Chen
Yingzhu Chen
Danushi De Silva
Arya Farazdaghi
Xiyuan Gao
Mayuri Garg
Daniel Granados
Marc Grayeb
Xueying Guo
Osvaldo Horta
Audrey Iskandar
Mingye Kuang
Stephen Kusuma
Emily Lee
Alejandro Leyva
Huajian Li
Kun Li
Shuaitian Li
Shuting Li
Xinzhe Li
Yi Li
Jie Liu
Ryan Long
Antonio Lopez
Brahim Malki
Gaia Meda
Wen Meng
Luke Meyer
Anthony Ortega
Fernando Pantaleon-Acevedo
Jimmy Perez-Maldonado
Daniel Phillips
Alex Resendiz
Oscar Romo Ibarra
Michael Salazar
Pokboon Sawangpak
Min Shen
Avanti Shinde
Jiarui Song
Jing Sun
Xinyun Tang
Fernaldy Tanoko
Anh Tram Trieu
Siyu Wang
Zaihan Wang
Zhongchun Wang
Zilin Wang
Ruichi Wen
Bin Xu
Jiahui Yu
Erika Zamora
Xiaowei Zhai
Hanxiao Zhang
Siyu Zhang
Zehao Zhang
Jiuxiang Zhang
Yiyang Zhou
Konnor Zickefoose
Jiaxin Zuo
Luis Acevedo
Manodhar Allu
Jesslyn Antonio
Mohammad Arsalan
Rishab Ballekere Narayana
Gowda
Rijul Banerjee
Andrew Boyd
Tanvir Brar
Wenqi Cao
Jahnavi Chavali
Shiyao Chen
Kuan-Chen Chiu
Teng-Yun Chung
Weilun Dai
Bao Anh Dam
Henry Dang
Anuja Dixit
Alexander Enriquez
Yang Fang
Rong Fang
Yikai Fang
Erqiang Guo
Ruiqing He
Chenhui Hu
Yuzhou Hu
Minji Jeon
Zhiheng Jing
Shannon Jusman
Venkata Aneesh Kalaga
Vivian Kang
Connor Ketel
Joo-Hyun Kim
Vedant Kshirsagar
Sneha Lakshmikanthaiah
Basil Latif
Yeji Lee
Hsu Ming Lee
Yuan Jye Lee
Byungchan Lee
Zixin Li
Luyao Li
Kuang Li
Jui-Chi Liang
Hsiu-I Lin
Qiwei Lin
Matthew Littman
Linxia Liu
Xiao Tong Liu
Yaoxuan Liu
Yeran Liu
Yuan Liu
Yan Ting Matthew Lock
Liqin Lu
Weili Luo
Ryan Luu
Vishnu Madan
Ryan Maffioli
Sonal Mendiratta
Isaac Mizrahi
Geoffrey Nel
Clinton Ng
Saad Noman
Yisang Pan
Shanmuga Pillaiyan
Kevin Pla
Manoj Pyla
Zelong Qian
Quan Qiao
Ramya Raghavan
Belal Rais
Sameer Rathi
Billy Saputra
James Sarmento
Kathleen Sebastian
Kevin Seng
Supriya Shahane
Wen Shan
Arpita Sharda
Sushrut Shendre
Minmin Shi
Chavi Singal
Tatiksha Singh
Dimple Singhania
Jennifer Siwu
Takako Suzuki
Shujiang Tan
Yufei Tan
Ai-Ling Ting
Adwait Toro
Adam Toy
Tristan Tran
Shaun Vetrovec
Yongyuan Wan
Jiahui Wang
Junxiu Wang
Yuxi Wang
Sijia Wang
Mike Adhitya Williams
Shengze Xiao
Mengze Xu
Shuochen Xu
Min Young Yang
Zhuoer Yang
Jiaqi Yao
Yu An Yeh
Dora Yuan
Tianjiao Yuan
Qingyao Zhang
Chuyan Zhang
Yu Zhang
Huhao Zhu
Candidates for Master of Science in Business Analytics
Gerald Adams
Temitayo Adanlawo
Evgeny Bagaryakov
Zarina Bahadur
Vincent Wu Wei Can
DeRonte Craig
Khang Do
Gabriella Escobar
Andre Fawaz
Jonathan Freeman
Joshua Garcia
Arjean Hayes
Pei Fan Hung
Cassidy Kallenborn
Dong Wook Kim
Chia-Jung Li
Michelle Liman
Xiaolou Liu
Yixin Luan
Yangu Lyu
Haixiang Ma
Miriam Madava
Chuying Mai
Borna Malekshahi
Maxim Maximov
Alaina McClue
Eric Parashar
Dhruv Patel
Marion Angelo Quijano
Zixuan Ruan
Yassemeen Sa’Dullah
Lauren Saiki
Calvin Suryadinata
Junjie Tao
Alan To
Christine Truong
Norma Valles
Haixia Wu
Zihan Xiao
Helen Yu
Jiahe Zhang
Candidates for Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Tyanna Clarissa Adjie
Samaa Mazen Al-Moukdad
Jaiden Krystine Alba
Mozzamil Rashad Ali
Miguel Angel Alvarez-Franco
Alen Ashikian
Ananth Ashok
Jessica June Baca
Vanessa Elisa Banh
Yehan Bao
Anya Batmanian
Jingxian Bi
Lacey Renee Bratten
Brandon Neal Brunckhorst
Wendy Cai
Summer Rae Cain
Chen Cao
Nhan Hoai Cao
Kimberly Breann Castillo
Eric Chan
Kristen H. Chan
Lokpui Robert Chan
Man Ho Chan
Harry Singh Chandi
Annie Chen
Ashley S. Chen
Chi-Yang Chen
Haoyu Chen
Jingting Chen
Michael Minghao Chen
Muhua Chen
Siming Chen
Wei Chen
Xiang Chen
Yingxi Chen
Alex San Cheung
Linda Jen Hung Chin
May Chiu
Samantha Michele Cho
Steven Joon Choi
Carina Chou
Teal Siemlee Chou
Anika Choudhury
Ivan Leo Chu
Martin Tatsunori Chu-Tachikawa
Vincent Yi Shin Chuang
Vivian Hiu-Ting Chung
Maxwell Gino Clark
Hannah Bee Cooper
Christopher Paul Cordes
Cameron Javier De La Torre
Michelle Deng
John Ryan Fernando Tran Desnoyers
Kimberly Phuong Ngan Do
Yvon Le Doan
Cammy Du
Kyla Du
Paige Lillian Dumaguin
Rachel Ann Dunkin
Mirna Elaasar
Ivet Guadalupe Estevez
Sasha Ettekal
Qiaoyi Feng
Tanya Ferrero
Cody Antonio Fujimoto
Anthony Gallardo
Ariel Omar Gamez
Yiqing Gao
Luis Enrique Garcia
Steven Michael Garrett
Vahan Mathew Gekchyan
Aryan Nick Ghanadan
Chelsea Misa Gintz
Vivian M. Gip
Reyes Jose Gomez
Nicholas Anthony Gonzales
Rosa Ivette Gonzalez
Kimberly Rose Grant
Stephen M. Greunke
Ran Gu
Ouni Guan
Shuling Guo
Jasmine Gutierrez
Sara Hamza
Kenneth Han
Yanjie Hao
Hope Madonna Hart
Danielle Dauglash Heredia
Jose Alonso Herrera-Gonzalez
Jaycob Evan Hinojosa
Tomohide Douglas Hishinuma
Emily Noel Ho
Richard Minh Hoang
Lisa Hong
Hayden Lyman Hosick
Jui Chen Hsia
Peggy Hsieh
Ya De Htun
Ruiqian Hu
Angel Chu Qian Huang
Jiaxin Huang
Jocelyn Huang
Zishan Huang
Lia Jenna Ikeda
Hyun Chun Jang
Jimin Jeong
Candidates for Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
Nathan Corey Johnson
Ga Young Jun
Jonathan Kang
Vicken Hrag Kejejian
Abdolhamid Khatibzadeh
Christina Haelin Kim
Pilsung Kim
Marisa Kiyomi King
Chaitanya Sanjay Kore
Sabrina Kouchar
Aaron Kuo
Andrew Sean Kusnohadi
Gina Kwon
Kaung Wai Yan Kyaw
Steven Minh Tan Lac
Yanhao Lai
May Hien Lam
Melody Kieu-Diem Lam
Stephanie Nicole Lambrinidis
Allison M. Lau
Rachel Valerie Lau
Brandon Christopher Le
Ngoc Thi My Le
Tan-Thien Le
Irene Hye Jin Lee
Isaac Heewon Lee
Jessica Hiuan-Yeu Lee
Kathryn Wan Lin Lee
Sarah Sung Hey Lee
Michael Lee
David Sui-Tim Leong
Jennifer Sharon Lew
Guoquan Li
Hong Chao Li
Jichen Li
Qi Li
Vivian Wei Li
Peifen Li
Anan Liang
Bo-Cheng Liao
Jingyang Lin
Zhenghan Lin
Abigail Lira
Jiajun Liu
Qimei Liu
Yuyu Liu
Jiaxue Lu
Jeffrey Yin Lu
Xinghuan Lu
Angel David Luevanos
My Huong Luong
Nicole Catherine Luszczak
Yi Lyu
Yuqing Ma
Kristina Rana Macaluso
Gabriel Geoff Vicencio Mallari
Julianne Audrey Maninang
Lidya Manouilian
Julio Martinez
Jasmin Martinez Sanchez
Daniela Mayoral
Fatima Aziz Mian
Megan Oshiro Milne
Diana Lucia Monterroso
Edgar Felix Morales
Samantha Morales Lopez
Muneeb Moulvi
Aileen Carolina Munoz
Alexis Munoz
Kylie Kei Nakada
Renee Joelle Navarro
Melanie Jan Ng
Ivy Tuong Ngo
Jennifer Vo Ngo
Brian Thai Nguyen
Chau Thi Ngoc Nguyen
Duy Thanh Nguyen
Emily Tramanh Nguyen
Ethan Allen Nguyen
Khanh Ngoc Kieu Nguyen
Micky Tuan Nguyen
Vy Nguyen
Minh-Thu Monique Nguyen-Diep
Gina Ni
Kelly Ni
Amber Simone Nicholson
Sean Felix O’Donnell
Eaindray Oo
Christopher Matthew Orduna
Ruby Osorio
Ariana Nicole Otero
Priyanka Deepak Pabari
Sahiljoven Palane
Joel Pantoja-Ortega
Hyewon Park
Sun Min Park
Ernest Kyle Abrenica Pastor
Edgardo Villar Paulino Jr.
Jack David Pearce
William Giovanni Perez Jr.
Estrella Perez Hilario
Vanessa Nicole Perrin
Kyle Masaji Petersen
Stacie Pham
Vinh Phuc Phan
Ching Yin Poon
Jasmine Puentes
Qinfan Qian
Pramodi S. Rajapakse
Niddhi Paresh Rambhia
Hannah Nicole Linsangan Ramos
Khalia Roshan Rehemtulla
Robert Steven Reyes Jr.
Christian Luis Rios
Maximillian Josef Rivas
Alexis Kim Rivera
Gabriela Rodriguez Martinez
Sandra Ruiz Rodriguez
Maria Sahakyan Jr.
Yasmeen Samimi
Aira Camille Parojinog Samontina
Devina Natalie Shan
Payvand Shariatpanahi
Feifei Shen
Nicholas Andrew Shepherd
Melissa Santos Silva
Alessandra Elena Silva
Gursehaj Singh
Evgeny Smirnov
Aaron Soetanto
Edgardo Soto
Scott Eugene Stadick
Lucas Adam Swaney
Haruyuki Tachibana
Michelle Tam
Nicholas Tam
Lhanz Henrichson Tan Tan
Olivia S. Tang
Kenny Tang
Yinlu Tang
Ziwei Tang
Sevag Avo Tchorbajian
Steven Mourad Terterian
Ankit Tondon
Timothy William Toto
Nhat Tran
Thanh Van Kelly Thi Tran
Tiffany Tran
Marian Ysobel Escobedo Tria
Julie Le Trinh
Jacob Scott Troge
Stanley Wen Tseng
Wei-Yun Tseng
Keani Taylor Turangan
Franz Gillian Terrobias Valerio
Karen Raquel Valles
Trevor Joseph Van Beurden
Amanda Marie Villalpando
Bryan Thien Vo
Claudia T. Vu
Cenyi Wang
Sharon Wen
Ziling Weng
Jasen Oliver Williams II
Kendall Chrystene Wilson
Trevor Bradley Wise
Alec Martin Wong
Chak Ting Wong
Jacklyn T. Wong
Jason Le Wong
Jillian Gumleng Wong
Lianne Vivian Wong
Tiffany Elizabeth Woo
Dominic Anthony Wright
Angel Wu
Hannah Wu
Jiaqi Wu
Wenxi Wu
Yongwei Wu
Terri X. Xin
Yingxin Xiong
Zhicheng Xiong
Deborah Hou-Ling Yeung
Zhaoli Yin
Aydin Attila Yolar
Nicole Anne Yonan
Salmaan Ahmad Yosafi
Emily Mai Therese Young
Jeremy Andrew Yu
Xiuting Yu
Kody Ko Yueh
Leonel Zaragoza
Aiqi Zhang
Chenlong Zhang
Kitling Zhang
Qifan Zhang
Xiangguang Zhang
Xianyi Zhang
Xuan Zhang
Wesley Alexander Zhang
Zhongyi Zhang
Ting Zhao
Jiazhi Zheng
Jianing Zhou
Miaoyan Zhou
Xian Zhou
ACCOUNTINGElizabeth Chuk
Joanna Ho
Chuchu Liang
Ben Lourie
Radhika Lunawat
Mort Pincus
Devin Shanthikumar
Terry Shevlin
Siew Hong Teoh
Patricia Wellmeyer
Chenqi Zhu
ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY
Edward Coulson
FINANCEDavid Hirshleifer
Chong Huang
Philippe Jorion
Christopher Schwarz
Jinfei Sheng
Zheng Sun
Yuhai Xuan
David Yang
Lu Zheng
INFORMATION SYSTEMSVibhanshu Abhishek
Behnaz Bojd
Vidyanand (VC) Choudhary
Sanjeev Dewan
Vijay Gurbaxani
Tingting Nian
Mingdi Xin
MARKETINGKevin Bradford
Tonya Bradford
Imran Currim
Mary Gilly
John Graham
Loraine Lau-Gesk
Connie Pechmann
Eric Spangenberg
Rajeev Tyagi
Alladi Venkatesh
OPERATIONS AND DECISION TECHNOLOGIES
Luyi Gui
Robin Keller
Ken Murphy
Carlton Scott
Rick So
John Turner
Shuya Yin
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENTChristopher Bauman
Martha Feldman
Sharon Koppman
Ming Leung
Melissa Mazmanian
Gerardo Okhuysen
Jone Pearce
Maritza Salazar Campo
Maia Young
STRATEGYPhilip Bromiley
John Joseph
Luke Rhee
Libby Weber
Margarethe Wiersema
2019-2020 Merage School Faculty
AFFILIATED FACULTY
Mohamed A. Abdelhamid
Neerja Aggarwal
Shawn Andrews
Feroz Ansari
Matt Bailey
Christopher J. Barry
Romilla Batra
Gerard Beenen
Richard Chandler
Max Chao
Kim Chatani
Ming Chen
Stephen Cooke
Kirsten Daniel
Cristina del Campo
Zvi Drezner
Thomas Eppel
Mauricio Featherman
Julie Flaiz-Windham
Nathan Franke
Ed Fuller
David Gamboa
Timothy M. Geiman
Joseph Donny Giles
Yuhong He
William Hernandez
John Herold
Alan Nelson
Lingwen Huang
Xuan Huang
Edward Hughes
Eric Jaegers
Lian Jian
Yanbo Jin
Venkat Jonnala
Soheila Jorjani
Michael Juergens
Ravi Kathuria
Jeff Kim
Sean Klein
Maria Kniazeva
Mark Krueger
Chet Lakhani
Leonard Lane
Brandon Law
Ben Leffel
Debbie Letourneau
Melisa Beatrice Levitt
Kevin McKenzie
Grace McLaughlin
Sharad Mehrotra
Stephen Milner
Howard D. Mirowitz
William Morris
Sanjoy Moulik
Richard Needham
Alan Nelson
Russel Nelson
Sue Padernacht
Fredrick Park
Michael Pettiette
Shaun Pichler
Emile Pilafidis
Raymond Pirouz
Michael Ponton
Steven Postrel
Hamid Pourmohammadi
Nils Randrup
Patrick Reilly
Todd Richey
Neil Sahota
Arvind Sathi
David Savlowitz
Vicki Mara Scherwin
Glen Schrank
Richard Selby
Christobel E. Selecky
Ramesh Shankar
Shantanu Sharma
Valerie Sheppard
Thomas Sherlock
Arjan Singh
Ahmad Sohrabian
Steven Sommer
Thomas Steinberger
Xuemei Su
Richard Sudek
Maria Van Der Steen
John Van-Horn
Thomas Wagner
Shanetta Weatherspoon
Craig Weaver
Aaron Werth
Lawrence Alan Wilk
Eric Wrobel
Brian Yacker
Program Offices
DOCTORATE PROGRAMTerry Shevlin, Associate Dean
Noel Negrete
FULL-TIME MBAJoanna Ho, Associate Dean
Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean
Taylor Martini, Executive Director
Asani Myers
Sofia Dang
Eric Duarte
Lindsay Haberman
Jamee Barrios
EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAMJoanna Ho, Associate Dean
Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean
Sylvia Haas, Executive Director
Kristin Dalton
Robin Redding
Jennifer Risner
Stephanie Leonard
Amber Tadokoro
Ela Kozlowski
FULLY EMPLOYED MBA PROGRAMJoanna Ho, Associate Dean
Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean
Jon Masciana, Executive Director
Melanie Coburn
Nhung Nguyen
Kristin Dalton
Chris Helvajian
Stephanie Leonard
Amber Tadokoro
Jason Tompkins
SPECIALTY MASTERS PROGRAMSJoanna Ho, Associate Dean
Chris Bauman, Academic Director, MIE
Patricia Wellmeyer, Academic Director, Accounting
Zheng Sun, Academic Director, Finance
Jon Kaplan, Assistant Dean
Kristen Ahn
Danielle Aceves-Dalal
Rick Callender
Jana Cheng
Oscar Guzman
Chloe Keller
Bryan Munoz
Ashley Ramirez
Jacqueline Rodio
Nadine Abu-Seraj
Burt Alvaro Slusher
Vanessa Tafreshi
Lina Tran
Michelle Steinman
Natalia Sanchez
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Maia Young, Associate Dean
Courtney Elmes, Senior Director
Michael Cruz
Sarah Link
Andrea O’Donnell
Nicolo Patungan
EXTERNAL RELATIONSDavid Knuff, Assistant Dean
Nick Shaffer
ADVANCEMENTTory Benoit, Executive Director
Ivette Barcenas
Sandy Lee
Eunice Lee
Matthew O’Connor
Ariel Shrader
Leah Walton
EXECUTIVE EDUCATIONDavid Knuff, Assistant Dean
Mollee Elniski
Johnny Cisneros
Amanda Pham
Tatiana Walton
CAREER CENTERCynthia Rude, Executive Director
Vickie Chicaul
Gina Cho
Ann Cross
Brittany Deneau
Blair Fraser
Qilin He
Joina Hsaio
Chris Kovitz
Jingjing Long
Barbra Marangell
Vanessa Marcin
Leaat Modiano
Lisa Patel
Darcy Cramer
Nan Stothard
Tonie Zhu
Sarah Yoo
FINANCIAL AIDAlda Ruggiero, Director
Kristin Roteliuk
BEALL CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Imran Currim, Academic Director
Breanna Hale
CENTER FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Vijay Gurbaxani, Academic Director
Leslie Fell
CENTER FOR GLOBAL LEADERSHIPEric Spangenberg, Academic Director and Dean
CENTER FOR HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT AND POLICY
Diane Ford
CENTER FOR INVESTMENT AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Christopher Schwarz, Academic Director
Lee Anne Maki
CENTER FOR REAL ESTATEEdward Coulson, Academic Director
Sharon Nakamura-Brown
Sanjeev Dewan, Academic Director, Business Analytics
History of CommencementThe colorful traditions surrounding academic regalia – gowns, caps, hoods, tassels, and cords –
date back to the first European universities. What began in the Middle Ages as clothing worn by
clerics to provide warmth in damp, unheated buildings progressed, by the time of Henry VIII of
England, to detailed codes of dress prescribed by Oxford University and Cambridge University.
In the late 1900s, universities in the U.S. began to assign specific colors to signify the different
academic disciplines, and those colors now appear in the trim of graduates’ gowns, the edging of
hoods, and sometimes on the tassels of caps. The color white for example, which at Oxford and
Cambridge is the white fur trim of baccalaureate hoods, in America was assigned to arts, letters
and humanities graduates.
GOWNSBaccalaureate gowns, usually black, have wide pointed sleeves and are worn closed. Master’s
gowns have oblong slit sleeves that open at the wrist and are worn open or closed. Doctoral gowns
have bell-shaped sleeves and are worn closed. Holders of the Doctoral degree may wear a velvet
facing on the front of the gown and three velvet bars across the sleeve. The velvet may be black or
it may be the color appropriate to the subject in which the wearer holds the degree.
HOODS AND TASSELSHoods are ornamental folds draped down the back of the shoulders of academic gowns worn by
Master’s or Doctoral degree graduates. Master’s degree candidates wear hoods lined with colors
that reflect their course of study, such as Business Administration. Doctoral degree hoods have a
silk lining with the colors of the institution from which the wearer has graduated. Graduates from
the University of California system wear hoods lined with blue and gold, the university’s official
colors, as well as colored velvet bands.
The color of the velvet band on the Master’s and Doctoral hood indicates the title of the degree;
the band on Master of Business Administration hoods is acetone gold/royal blue. A doctorate
recipient, regardless of the field of study, wears dark blue because the title of the degree is Doctor
of Philosophy.
At the University of California, Irvine, all graduates wear a duo-color tassel made up of the
University’s colors, blue and gold. The year is stamped on the reverse side of the University of
California, Irvine, official seal. Undergraduates receiving a degree have their tassel start on the right
side and then it is moved to the left. Graduate level degree recipients start the tassel on the left side
and it is not moved.
HONORS AND CORDSUC Irvine baccalaureate graduates, who have received campus-wide Latin honors (summa cum
laude, magna cum laude, cum laude), wear gold cords. The Chancellor’s Award of Distinction
recipients wear the blue and gold shoulder cord. Those who have received academic unit awards
and prizes, or who have been elected to honor societies, wear blue cords.
Graduate candidates receiving the Dean’s Scholar award wear two gold cords and those receiving
the Beta Gamma Sigma award wear a blue and gold cord. Silver cords are for shareholders of the
Dean’s Leadership Circle.
MACEFrom its origins in the Middle Ages, the club shaped staff known as a mace has gradually taken on
ceremonial character as a symbol of authority. In an American tradition begun in 1789 by the first
Speaker of the House, the U.S. House of Representatives’ mace is one of the oldest symbols of
our nation’s government, and is used both to open all sessions of the House and in the inaugural
ceremonies for all Presidents of the United States.
The UCI Alumni Association, with the assistance of Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs
Emeritus Chuck Pieper and Scenic Shop Supervisor Keith Bangs of the Claire Trevor School of the
Arts, presented the UC Irvine Mace to the campus on May 12, 2000. While the silver orb at the top
of the staff might be the first thing to catch the eye, the staff itself is memorable and unique. Carved
from California oak, it is fashioned to resemble the nose of an anteater, the school mascot. The
UC Irvine Mace was first carried at the 2000 Commencement ceremonies by the president of the
UCI Alumni Association, Deborah Daniel. The Mace is always carried by a distinguished UC Irvine
alumnus or alumna and leads the Commencement processional.
About the School The Paul Merage School of Business develops and equips leaders with critical business and
leadership skills needed to succeed through programs that are continually adapted to address the
ever-changing social, technological and economic opportunities and challenges in our digitally
driven world. We offer three dynamic MBA programs (including a hybrid online cohort), two dual
degrees (JD/MBA and MD/MBA), a Master of Professional Accountancy, Master of Finance, Master
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, MS in Business Analytics, MS in Biotechnology Management,
MS in Engineering Management, PhD and undergraduate business degrees that focus on creative
and critical thinking skills, strategic decision-making, leadership, innovation, and collaboration
through in-class and on-site experiences with real-world business problems. While the Merage
School is relatively young, it has quickly grown to consistently rank among the top 5% of all
AACSB-accredited programs through exceptional student recruitment, world-class faculty, a
strong alumni network and close relationships with both individual business executives and global
corporations. We combine the academic strengths and best traditions of the University of California
with the cutting-edge, entrepreneurial spirit of Orange County in the heart of Southern California’s
Tech Coast.
Together with our alumni and business community, we are proud to launch the next generation of
professionals poised to have a positive impact in business and society as a whole.
merage.uci.edu