Alumni celebrate 40 years of Olin’s Executive MBA program

For hundreds of WashU Olin EMBA alumni, the program’s 40th anniversary celebration September 22-23 was a chance to reminisce and reconnect with friends and professors.

 It was also an opportunity to reflect on their Olin Executive MBA experience, and how the relationships they built there have impacted their lives.

“I found myself at EMBA,” said Jaimee Hall. “I didn’t realize it would change my life. It helped me refind myself as a professional. These guys”—she gestured to a group of her fellow alumni—"all played a role in that.”

Olin’s anniversary celebration kicked off with a barbecue dinner at Knight Hall on the WashU campus. Hall, Anand Tiwari and Katherine (Lemley) Frierdich, all EMBA 2019, talked about their class’s close ties, forged in the EMBA session that finished just months before the COVID-19 crisis.

“I feel like I’m closely connected with all 32 of them,” Hall said of her classmates.

Frierdich nodded. “We all came to further our careers, but we left with friends.”

“A family,” Tiwari added. “We’re family.”

Jackie Lorrainne, EMBA 2014, said the lessons of EMBA have stayed with her over the past decade. “They improved my understanding about what drives decision-making and taught me the importance of teamwork.”

Lorrainne said she keeps in contact with EMBA faculty and frequently returns to Olin for events. “I want to stay connected.”

On Saturday, the school hosted a daylong forum featuring sessions led by Olin professors and business leaders, as well as remarks from Wash U Provost Beverly Wendland, new Olin Dean Mike Mazzeo, and Dean Emeritus Bob Virgil, who oversaw the establishment of the EMBA program.

“We’ve now had 3,000 graduates,” Virgil said in a taped message. “These are people who have become very, very successful in their careers—and through their success, they have reflected on the Olin School and its faculty. These people have been tremendous assets for Olin, for Washington University, for St. Louis.”

The festivities concluded with a gala dinner at St. Louis City SC CITYPARK, where the EMBA classes toasted 40 years of education and fellowship, and the promise of more success to come.