MBA Student of the Year 2008

The prestigious MBA Student of the Year Award is organised by the Association of MBAs and sponsored by The Independent . It singles out high achievers from the MBA arena, and every year schools are invited to nominate one exemplary candidate to participate in the competition.

We are very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2008 MBA Student of the Year Award is Gajender Sharma, of HEC Paris. Gajender is an ideal advocate for the MBA as he believes that MBAs 'bring change for good' and 'create new roads for the future'. Gajender is guided by Ghandi's famous words that we 'must be the change we want to see in the world', and, as such, aims to be an instrument of change himself. Speaking of his current role as an associate consultant, he does more than look at his clients' problems: he is aware that his recommendations to the clients 'can have an impact on society'. Gajender believes that 'more and more MBA schools are focusing on preparing leaders who can look beyond the business issues and contribute towards the growth of society as a whole.'

Many congratulations to our winner, we are sure he will make an excellent new ambassador for the Association of MBAs!

Gajender with the Association's Chief Executive, Jeanette Purcell	The winner and finalists (L to R): Tony Sadownichik,  Kagisho Mahura, Gajender Sharma, Mamta Singhal

You can read the winner's profile below:

• Mr Gajender Sharma - HEC Paris
  
  Within a year of finishing the programme, Gajender received four job offers in three different international locations. He eventually went to work in Tokyo for A.T.Kearney.
  
  He demonstrated his capacity to lead in the unique HEC MBA learning environment through a wide array of academic and extra-curricular engagements.
  
  As president of the HEC MBA Council he led a team of 17 participants from 12 different nationalities to catalyse positive change in the HEC MBA community; he raised 20,000 Euros for the Council, created two new Professional Clubs and integrated participants' partners and families into the HEC community by activating the Partners Club.
  
  He has also founded an organisation called ‘Positive Drive’, which seeks to create sustainable projects to decrease poverty and improve child education worldwide.
  

• Mr Kagisho Mahura - University of Stellenbosch Business School
  
  Kagisho is an experienced executive marketing manager with over 10 years' business experience in the financial services and investment management industry.
  
  At the start of the MBA programme, his natural leadership abilities already were clear when he was elected to serve as a class representative. He also encouraged debate about current issues like affirmative action and reverse discrimination and he is convinced that South Africa can only be built into a leading nation if people start talking about the issues that make them uncomfortable.
  
  In 2006, competing against 28 leading United States business schools, Kagisho and his two colleagues emerged winners of the National Black MBA Association Case Competition held in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
  
  He is currently serving as Chief Executive of Bomang Capital, a consulting and investment company, and is building a wealth management business.
  
  
• Mr Tony Sadownichik - Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
  
  Tony is based in The Netherlands, and currently is the Head of International Research for Greenpeace. Tony entered on the OneMBA programme at the Rotterdam School of Management to build upon the premise that economic and environmental imperatives are mutually inclusive. He initiated with RSM in 2007 the first Leadership Panel on Business Government & Society: Collaborating for Sustainability and Economic Growth, as core curriculum of the OneMBA European Global Residency.
  
  Tony has come full circle from identifying opportunities for KPMG to integrate environmental objectives into economic perspectives, to incorporating economic perspectives into equitable sustainability strategies with Greenpeace. He pioneered their 2008 entry as the first NGO into the European Space Agency’s Global Monitoring of the Environment Consortium.
  
  
• Ms Mamta Singhal - University of Strathclyde Business School
  
  Mamta has recently won the Women Engineering Society Prize at the 2007 IET Women Engineer of the Year Award, alongside an array of numerous awards throughout her young career. She follows in the footsteps of Strathclyde Business School alumnus Stephen Koepplinger who won the award in 2005.
  
  Mamta gained several years' experience in multinational companies on brands, products and services that are manufactured and distributed throughout the world. She currently teaches Engineering at Strathclyde University.
  
  She describes herself as a ‘citizen of the world’, born in Massachusetts, U.S, brought up in Scotland (parents of Indian origin) and having worked in the U.K. Her ethos is ‘diversity does not dilute our identity but simply enhances it.’ With a grade point average of 70%, Mamta looks set to graduate in 2009 with a distinction.
  
  

To read about  Bart Knols, winner of the 2007 Award, and about last years' competition, click here.

For more information on the MBA Student of the Year Award, contact Harlequin Shaw, h.shaw@mbaworld.com, +44(0)20 7246 2692.