One night last spring, Albin Soares (MBA ’13) was working at his computer when he got a text message from one of his colleagues on the Graduate Business Council, the Freeman School’s student government organization.
Outgoing GBC President Albin Soares (MBA ’13) earned a reputation as one of the most active presidents in the organization’s history.
“Hey, you need to calm down for the day,” the message read.
Soares puzzled over the message for a second before realizing what it was about. “I looked and I had sent out 74 emails that day,” laughs Soares, outgoing president of the GBC. “So I was like, ‘Okay.’”
Days like that weren’t unusual for Soares, who earned a reputation among faculty and staff as one of the most active, involved presidents in recent GBC history. From working with faculty to revamp the MBA program to making sure that the television in the GW2 lounge stayed tuned to CNBC, no issue was too big or too small for Soares, who brought boundless enthusiasm and unrelenting tenacity to the job.
Over the course of the year, Soares’ achievements included establishing a discussion lounge for graduate students, bringing in a host of guest speakers, and lobbying successfully for the creation of an experimental “offboarding” program to provide graduating students with a formal send off. When he found out that alumni participation in giving was one of the criteria used in ranking surveys, he succeeded in getting not just a pledge but a check from almost every member of the 2013 graduating classes.
Perhaps most prominently, Soares co-chaired with Dean Solomon the task force dedicated to rewriting the Freeman School’s mission statement and core values during the recent strategic planning process. In that role, he played a substantive part in defining the Freeman School’s direction for the next five years.
Since graduating in May, Soares and his family — his wife Elizabeth and 11-month-old son Bennett — have relocated to the San Diego area, where he hopes to launch a business idea he developed at the Freeman School.
“There’s not one big, bright, shiny thing I accomplished as GBC president, but I can say we chipped away at a lot of things that needed to be done,” Soares says of his tenure as president. “I think that’s what I’m most proud of.”
{ 0 comments… add one now }