The Naveen Jindal School of Management’s Full-Time MBA program celebrated its 25th anniversary this academic school year (2022-23) with a reception Dec. 9 in the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center atrium. This event followed a graduation celebration and dinner for the class of 2022. Holding them in conjunction allowed the alumni to congratulate the class of 2022.

The FT MBA program began in 1997 with 25 students. Although the Jindal School’s MBA programs currently enroll more than 700 students, the Full-Time Cohort program has intentionally kept its lineup at around 50 students to ensure it stays intimate, a characteristic that the program’s students consistently say is its best part. In that time, enrollment at the school increased from 2,000 students to more than 10,000.

Lisa Shatz, assistant dean and director of MBA programs, said the occasion was an opportunity for alumni from earlier classes who had not seen each other for years to meet again.

“It was also an opportunity for alums from the past quarter century to come out and see how much the program has grown’” she said. “It was great to see alumni, some of whom we haven’t seen in a while, and realize how successful they have become.”

While giving an update about the current job market, Shatz said the current graduating class has a higher number of people coming out of internships with offers of full-time employment — double the number of the previous class. During a post-celebration interview, she stated that the increases were not limited to internships. Salaries also jumped significantly.

“Many of the alumni graduated at a time when the average salary coming out of the program was less than $80,000,” she said. “They were amazed to see that the average salary was now more than $124,000 and significant numbers of students were getting more full-time offers directly out of their summer internships than ever before.”

During the graduation dinner preceding the celebration, Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Caruth Chair and Jindal School dean, pointed out that the Jindal school’s graduating class of 2023 has 2,200 students.

“I love the fact we have touched the lives of so many people,” he said. “I am in my 27th year here and I have always welcomed every new class. Those are wonderful days. Graduation is also a wonderful day because we are sending you on your way to a great success in the outside world.”

Pirkul told graduates that he hoped they would return and continue to support the school and emphasized the importance of a strong alumni base.

“We are a young school and we are starting 100 years behind other business schools,” he said, “but we are catching up to them in terms of our alumni network. We appreciate the energy our alumni devote to helping the school.”

Pranav Tyagi, who received an MBA in strategy and marketing research from the Jindal School in 1998, and a Master of Science in management information systems, was guest speaker for the reception. After working for various companies, including Deloitte Consulting and Ernst and Young, he founded his own company, Tango Manage-ment Consultants (Tango Analytics) in 2008. Today, the company employs 350 people and its platform is used by 500 different companies.

While offering words of wisdom to the attendees, including the new graduates, he listed four components of success—skill, work ethic, an element of luck, and belief in yourself, – which he described as “the secret sauce.”

“Today, the job market and economy are at a very interesting place,” he said. “The job market you are entering is in flux. You may be working remotely, and have a hybrid work schedule, and you are not in the office. How do you meet people and get to know your co-workers and clients? You will need to figure that out. It is a challenge, but also an opportunity. Your MBA has taught you the skills that will allow you to thrive in this environment.”

In closing, he told graduates not to forget where they came from. “This school has given us a lot. Come back and contribute.”