EMBA 58 graduation highlights bonds with classmates

With sincere messages and a few laughs, WashU Olin’s class 58 of the Executive MBA program recently gathered for its graduation celebration in Graham Chapel.

Ramsey Elliott Kellner, selected by his classmates to be the student speaker for the May 3, 2024, ceremony, cracked up the crowd with a mix of real sentimentality and a steady stream of inside jokes, confessing during his remarks that he entered the program because “I wanted to level up my business acumen.”

He went on: “I have learned everything I wanted to learn. I read most of the case studies”—he joked. “But that has not been the most salient aspect of the program for me. Instead, it was the time spent with you all.”

Kellner was one of 23 EMBA students who graduated during the program, which included remarks from Dean Mike Mazzeo and keynote speaker Nick Bhambri, BSME 1985/EMBA 2007, managing partner for Starlit Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in St. Louis.

Bhambri recalled meeting his six-member team when he began the EMBA program years ago—and his initial astonishment that anyone thought it was a good idea to “put those six characters together.”

“I tell you what,” Bhambri went on. “Those five characters became an extension of my family for the next year and a half and are now lifelong friends. So I hope you’ve found that same relationship as you’ve gone through this program.”

Todd Gormley, professor of finance, and Minyuan Zhao, associate professor of strategy, were named the Reid Teaching Award recipients by the class in recognition of teaching excellence.

Visit here for a Flickr gallery of photos from the May 3 class 58 ceremony and see the entire recording of the ceremony here.