See Our Chicago Minds in Action: Profile of Katrina Bernhardt
- By
- September 08, 2026
- Chicago Minds Campaign
The Chicago Minds campaign at the University of Chicago is a multi-year initiative that aims to expand the university’s impact through investments in research and education. At Chicago Booth, the campaign will help the school to advance groundbreaking research, expand student support, promote faculty excellence, and more deeply engage our global community. In this video, see how Full-Time MBA student Katrina Bernhardt is becoming empowered to lead through her Booth education.
Katrina Bernhardt:
As early as high school, I discovered that I loved chemistry, and I wanted to be a cosmetic product developer. I worked at Johnson & Johnson and then the Kenvue spinoff. But as I got deeper into my work, I began to realize that I was being more and more inspired to be downstream on the business side.
I felt like pursuing an MBA would create that holistic foundation that would enable me to succeed in an industry setting.
The scholarship that I received from Chicago Booth was really life-changing.
There's so much that goes into the realm of leadership and human connection. We're not only becoming business leaders, but people leaders.
In the classes at Booth, the professors are always sharing their personal research as well as research across the industry. They provide the evidence for how these theories come to life in the real world, and I love the practicality of that. It's incredible being in the presence and community of so many future outstanding and exceptional leaders. This gift, not only the scholarship, but also the leadership opportunity, really empowers me in the future to pay it forward and give back to the community and the business world in a bigger way, no matter what capacity I'm in or role.
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