Success Stories

In the early 1990s, Larry Massaro decided to pursue an MBA to accelerate his professional development. He chose Cox School's Professional MBA program because it offered him the opportunity to obtain a "top-notch" education while continuing to gain valuable work experience. The combination of which has proved invaluable in advancing his career in the oil and gas business. "The Cox PMBA curriculum broadened my perspectives of business on a real-time basis," Massaro noted. "The case work we studied emulated the challenges my classmates and I were facing at the time. This enabled us to leverage our education on projects critical to our daily work. Even better was being able to do that with classmates and faculty who had new and different views on how to tackle problems." Massaro benefited from courses in finance, accounting, and strategy, and he took advantage of the Business Leadership Center (BLC) seminars, including those seminars on negotiating and leadership development. "Those classes complemented my engineering background and helped advance my career. They provided another fundamental building block to my professional development," he commented. "As a result, this led me to new career opportunities at Amerada Hess Corporation, where I became vice president of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, as well as my current position in investment banking. "Massaro is Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for JPMorgan, where he focuses on the oil and gas sector. As for advice for individuals contemplating a Professional MBA, Massaro remarked, "I recommend that everyone obtain an outstanding education that challenges oneself to perform. I believe you will find this at the Cox School. Combine this with great work experiences that you can leverage and keep you on track with your career objectives." He also offered some words of wisdom for students: "Take advantage of all that the Cox School has to offer, including the BLC, the Career Management Center, and the Associate Board executive mentoring program. What differentiates the Cox School from other programs is the fact that it combines a strong academic curriculum with close interaction among faculty and students that can only happen at a small school."