Meet Our 2020 75th Anniversary Scholars

Hayden Smith began his career as a professional athlete but always planned to pivot into a role in financial services. When he retired in 2016, he secured a position with the Enstar Group. It was then that Smith knew he wanted to get an MBA to advance his leadership ability and technical skills. This is what led him to the Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program in London. “I knew that a Booth education would give me the same confidence, or competitive edge, that I experienced through my professional sporting career.”

Laurel Van Allen spent the majority of her career consulting at a large firm. When she became one of the founding partners at Coherent Economics, a boutique economics consulting firm, she needed to adapt to the “roller coaster of being an entrepreneur.” As senior managing director, she wanted a formal business education to help cultivate her leadership skills and fill in knowledge gaps. Van Allen knew that she wanted an academic experience that would challenge her to undergo intense personal and professional growth; Booth stood out immediately. “Even the application process was a learning experience,” she says. “It was challenging to study for the Executive Assessment exam on the train while commuting to work and in the evenings once my children were in bed, but the experience gave me confidence that I could return to being a student.”