Director named to MBA program in Grand Rapids
Western Michigan University has named Renuka Phillips as the director of its Grand Rapids MBA program. Phillips is responsible for developing outreach initiatives and recruiting strategies to bring additional prominence and attention to the MBA program.
“While the quality of the program, the knowledge and talent of the professors, the collaborative learning environments and the cutting-edge concepts taught to students may be evident at the local level, I hope to aggressively promote the high quality of WMU’s MBA program more widely,” she says.
One of the main priorities for Phillips is to increase enrollment in the program. “Finding high-quality candidates will be a priority to incubate a talent base within the student population,” she says. Phillips also has plans to partner with the region’s top businesses to help facilitate an onset of talent into the program and to ensure delivery of business knowledge to their employees through the program.
For Phillips, the position is a great opportunity. As a WMU alumna, she was inspired by professors and staff while a student at Western and hopes to do the same for current MBA students. “Positively impacting the lives of others by helping them achieve their higher education dreams is the best part of my day,” says Phillips.
“We are thrilled to have Renuka Phillips on our team,” says Dr. Satish Deshpande, associate dean for graduate programs and operations at the Haworth College of Business. “She brings a wealth of experience to the position and will be an asset to students, faculty and companies in the Grand Rapids area.”
About Renuka Phillips
Phillips is a WMU alumna who earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and also studied communication. Phillips transferred to WMU from Malaysia in 1995 as a student in Sunway College’s twinning program. Prior to her undergraduate studies, she gained a global perspective by working as a flight attendant for Singapore Airlines. Phillips traveled around the world, experiencing many different cultures.
She then moved to the hospitality and construction industries and spent 10 years leading teams in public relations, brand marketing and operations and then chose to pursue an MBA at WMU’s Haworth College of Business, graduating in 2012.