EMBA at George Mason University: Alumni Interview

TopMBA.com talks to Dr James Murray about his experience of doing an EMBA at George Mason University, and how it has affected his career. 

The Executive MBA was a life changing experience for Dr James Murray, but there is one thing he wishes he’d known before stepping into the business school classroom for the first time. “I wish I had known what an enlightening and fulfilling experience it would be, and how it can positively impact one’s career and outlook,” the George Mason University alumnus says.

Dr Murray is a director in Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services. He has had several different positions since graduating with his EMBA and attributes them all to his business school education. “The program has given me the confidence to secure positions and to excel in them,” he says. “I have the business acumen to succeed within each position but I wouldn’t have had these opportunities if it weren’t for the Executive MBA. Instead, I would have continued on a purely technical path and not explored the breadth of management, finance and strategy.”

It was his quest for further knowledge and management experience that encouraged Dr Murray to turn to the Executive MBA in the first place. “I wanted to broaden my knowledge and management experience beyond technical fields,” he explains. “I wanted to obtain practical applied knowledge and experiences that I could use immediately in my job and career.”

“Obtaining the knowledge and confidence to address new management and financial challenges I had previously not understood was one of the best parts of the EMBA,” he says.

The social network was also a benefit of the program. “It [social network] has been important and a great experience,” Dr Murray says. “But the greatest advantage to having an Executive MBA degree is the confidence and freedom to take on new opportunities and to make your job and career what you want it to be.”

“To be able to explore new and lucrative opportunities that were closed off or perceived as out of reach before the program, that is the greatest advantage.”