Full-time MBA |

When Annbeth Eschbach set out to revolutionize the spa and fitness industry, she turned to NYU Stern. With the help of her MBA degree, she explains, “I was able to birth not only a new brand and company, but a business that is directly in the path of progress.” Prior to enrolling at Stern, Eschbach, founder and CEO of Exhale Enterprises, Inc., worked for a high-end athletic club and spa conglomerate operating more than 50 spas and athletic clubs in different markets with different names, sizes, programs, and positioning.

For Robin Harris, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, the path to an undergraduate degree from NYU Stern was far from conventional. The eldest of eight children, his life changed dramatically, when at age 15, his family moved from New York City to Alabama, and again when his stepfather passed away during his freshman year of college.

“Global resources delivered locally” is how New York native Monica Issar describes the educational experience that NYU Stern imparts to its students, and it is one of the principal reasons she selected the School for her undergraduate and MBA studies. Stern enabled Issar to acquire a global perspective through both her coursework and the diversity of the students surrounding her, a perspective that she brings to her position as Managing Director and head of the JP Morgan Asset Management and Foundations Group.

As the child of a military family, Brittany Laughlin was raised largely in North Carolina but saw enough of the world to know that she wanted a big-city environment for her college experience. With a passion for the arts, NYU’s Tisch was a huge draw, but a convincing speech by then-NYU Stern Undergraduate College Dean Frederick Choi to a group of accepted high school seniors solidified her decision to come to New York to study both business and film.

As the son of a senior official of the United Nations, Timothy Moe had a truly global upbringing: born in the Middle East, he traveled extensively during his youth and graduated from the UN International School in New York City. After receiving his undergraduate degree from NYU, where he studied art history and economics, Moe spent time training in martial arts in Brazil.

Josh Boaz’s digital marketing agency, Direct Agents, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. While the milestone is a measure of success for any small business, what may be more remarkable is that Boaz founded the company while he was still an undergraduate at NYU Stern. 

Edward Gilligan, President of American Express, can trace his long and successful tenure at the financial services company to one fateful moment during his days as an undergraduate at NYU Stern: when he spied an American Express posting on a campus job board. He applied to and landed the two-week assignment. Those two weeks led to a six-month temporary job, then to a part-time job, and finally to a fulltime position upon graduation.

“The most productive educational experience I have had,” is how Lee Howley characterizes the 12 months he spent at NYU Stern earning his MBA degree. Building on a solid academic foundation that included receiving an undergraduate degree in accounting from Georgetown University, Howley craved “real-life, hands-on experience” and chose to pursue graduate studies at Stern due to its proximity to Wall Street – both geographically and in terms of the professional backgrounds of its faculty.

Embodying the ideals of her alma mater, Anne Black is using her business education to effect positive change in the world. As Chief Operating Officer of the donor-advised fund Goldman Sachs Gives, she helps to direct some of the firm’s vast charitable resources to underserved communities around the globe.