Allyson and Ryan: An MBA love story

Allyson Golden and Ryan Fassler were both first-year MBA students when they started dating in 2011. This fall, they returned to campus to celebrate their engagement with their families.

Jobs took Allyson and Ryan to different cities and companies after graduation, but they’re both in Chicago now. Allyson is an Assurance Senior Associate at PwC and Ryan is a Senior Financial Analyst at Capital One. Congratulations on a match made at Olin!

Is it true you and your fiancé met at Olin during MBA orientation?

Yes! Despite both of us growing up in St. Louis, our paths had never crossed. During GO! Week, one of the other girls in the MBA program suggested I invite people over to hang out by my pool—I told her to invite people too. Ryan was one of the people she invited over—after that day he asked me out.

Were you pursuing similar career paths?

We were both pursuing fields that would be considered more quantitative. He was pursuing finance, and I was pursuing accounting. Since these had similar class requirements, we ended up in the same classes. When we were first dating, I remember spending many afternoons together studying for tests or working on projects at Olin.

Where did you go after graduation?

After graduation I moved to Chicago to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ryan moved to Washington D.C., and then Dallas, to work for Capital One before moving to Chicago two years ago.

When is the wedding and where?

The wedding will be in St. Louis next fall (September 2018). It will actually be at the same place my parents got married!

Any fun Olin memories you would like to share?

Labor Day weekend of our first semester, a group of MBAs decided to go rafting on an unseasonably cold day. While that was probably not a smart idea, we definitely have some good memories from that weekend. From studying at Olin for tests and grabbing lunch at the DUC between classes, to all of the ‘disorientation’ parties our last year—there are too many good memories to count, and it is hard to pick just one. But Olin/WashU played a big part in our relationship.

Allyson’s father, Bob, is an Olin MBA alumnus, class of 1984, and her mom, Jeanne, is a UC ’93 grad. They are generous supporters of Olin with the Jeanne & Robert Golden Scholarship. We hear Allyson’s little brother, John, recently took a campus tour and could be applying for an undergrad spot. Be on the lookout for future Golden generations!

Photos compliments of the Golden family.