Once Olin, always Olin: Evan Waldman’s former professor helps with consulting

WashU Olin alumni have continued to benefit from their membership in the community many years after leaving campus. This is part of an occasional series of vignettes about the alumni experience. Today, we hear from Evan Waldman, EMBA ’09,CEO, Essex Industries

Two years after Evan Waldman graduated with his Executive MBA, his company, Essex Industries, engaged Olin’s Anjan Thakor, director of doctoral programs and John E. Simon Professor of Finance, to help establish a base for its strategic planning.

“There were three of us on the executive team who had been through the Executive MBA program. We were excited to work with the business school—particularly Anjan Thakor,” said Waldman, who had taken a strategy course with Thakor and was happy to reconnect.

“We wanted to update our strategic plan and we really didn’t have a process for it at the time,” he said. “Anjan was a good resource to help us establish a solid foundation and common vernacular. He also worked with us to level set on where we were and where we wanted to head.”

Waldman continues to draw on Olin and its resources —particularly the faculty expertise and their network of real-world companies and case studies.

“They also know the theoretical and academic approaches, which can be provocative to those who are tied up in the day-to-day realities,” Waldman said.

Stay in touch.

Center for Experiential Learning

• Clare Nowogrocki, associate director 314-935-2050 | cnowogrocki@wustl.edu

Business Development

• Dorothy Kittner, MBA ’94, associate dean and director of business development and corporate relations 314-935-6365 | kittner@wustl.edu

Alumni & Development

• Sean Martin, director of development 314-935-3687 | sean_martin@wustl.edu

Weston Career Center

• Jen Whitten, associate dean and director 314-935-8970 | jwhitten@wustl.edu

Executive Education

• Kelly Bean, senior associate dean and professor of practice in leadership 202-797-6000 | beank@wustl.edu