Women aspiring to enter the executive suite – or those already there – have found their Executive MBA degree from the UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management is helping enhance their opportunities and effectiveness.
Every corporate sector is looking for skilled, highly educated women to step into leadership roles. The curriculum for the Executive MBA has provided these women a rigorous foundation to build upon as they advance in their roles and responsibilities.
Sue Davidson Hopeman
An accomplished, innovative retail executive leader with a 20-plus year portfolio of solid successes, Hopeman earned her Executive MBA in 2015, graduating with high distinction. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dickinson College. In her most recent position as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Visionworks of America, Hopeman oversees a 65-member team focused on merchandising, marketing, eCommerce and project management for the retail operation with 750 stores and $1B annual revenue.
Lana Evenhar
Evenhar earned an undergraduate degree in finance from Jindal School at UT Dallas and then returned to complete her Executive MBA. She is the customer solutions sales manager at Ericsson, a company she’s been with since 2009.
E. Michelle Miller
Miller and The University of Texas at Dallas have enjoyed a vibrant and enduring relationship for many years. She earned a master’s degree in management and administrative sciences from the Jindal School and later completed her EMBA with distinction honors. Since 2011, Miller has served on the UT Dallas Alumni Campaign Council, is a Legacy Society Member, and a Jindal School Power of Two mentor. She previously worked in the Jindal School as director of corporate relations for three years.
Miller is now at CBRE, overseeing research processes and production in its offices of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Nebraska. Her accountabilities include hiring, training, mentoring and supervision of 25 research professionals. Earlier in her career, Miller worked with Goldman Sachs’ Realty Management Division.
Nicole Kohanski
Nicole Kohanski has held the COO position at Unequal Technologies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since 2011, with previous roles at The Remmick Group and elsewhere. Kohanski is a recent graduate of the Executive MBA program at UT Dallas, graduating with honors with high distinction. She also holds a Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional certification.
Stephanie Hight
This accomplished alumna earned her Executive MBA at UT Dallas in 2016 and demonstrated her superior leadership skills by serving as valedictorian for her program’s cohort. Stephanie Hight’s talents for team-building, collaboration, troubleshooting and maintaining effective customer relationships have also served her well in her 10-year career with Cisco. She is client services manager at Cisco’s Dallas office. Hight was the network system administrator for the City of Raleigh, NC, before joining Cisco.
Jori Wiemer
Jori Wiemer, EMBA class of 2018, says being in an executive program “surrounded by a cohort of other working managers” added to her academic learning when her experienced classmates shared their own leadership and management observations. Wiemer has been with Arconic (which derived from Alcoa in 2016) for about 11 years and now is service center manager at Arconic/Kawneer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Wiemer started in a customer technical support role in Atlanta. Wiemer earned her bachelor’s degree in religious studies at Texas Christian University.
Geneva Martin
Martin expects to complete her EMBA studies in 2019. She now is senior director of data and analytics at WorldLink U.S., based in Frisco, since 2016. Martin holds two undergraduate degrees – one in computer management information systems and one in religion – and previously worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She is adept at successfully aligning business and IT strategic initiatives while providing leadership in the development and implementation of multimillion-dollar programs in the U.S. and globally.
Bonnie Hooker
Hooker is a specialist in supply chain process and technology innovation and serves as senior director of supply chain systems with Daltile Corp. in Dallas. In her job, Hooker has overall responsibility for developing and leading the technology strategy throughout Daltile’s supply chain. She expects to complete her EMBA in 2019. She also is a CPA in Texas, a certified Project Management Professional and earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from University of North Texas.
Leslie Mitchell
Mitchell completed her Executive MBA in 2015 and now serves as director of supply chain planning with Daltile Corp. in Dallas, where she has been for the past 15 years. She previously was at Alcatel after completing her undergraduate degree in management information systems at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Mitchell is certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and shares her passion for education by volunteering with the Dallas Independent School District, reading to elementary school children and talking with them about the benefits of a college education.
Erinn Marks
Marks, a current student in the Executive MBA program at UT Dallas expecting to graduate in 2019, is focusing on international studies. She joined MoneyGram International in 2016 as global compliance strategy manager. Prior to that, Marks held several positions with Bank of America, primarily in various analyst functions. She completed her bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance at Penn State University. In addition to her career and her academic work, Marks volunteers with two animal welfare groups and the Young Men’s Service League of Dallas.
Terri Maxwell
Terri Maxwell, president and CEO of Succeed on Purpose, a company that offers an on-demand training platform along with in-person workshops and virtual coaching programs. She completed her Executive MBA at Jindal School in 2004. She’s also an inspirational speaker and author, and was named a Small Business Mentor of the year by the National Association of Women Business Owners. She serves on the board of Girls, Inc. and previously served on the board of CitySquare, both in Dallas.
Evie McGerr
Evie McGerr is the Director of Data Insights and Chief Data Officer for AT&T in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. She graduated from the Executive MBA program at the Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas with honors. Today, she’s working to motivate and mentor others through professional development, including women, while also helping people gain a life balance that she believes is critical to performance.
Kilynn Sommer
Kilynn Sommer earned her Executive MBA at UT Dallas and is working as the Strategic Demand Generation and Marketing Communications Leader for Mitel. A key to her experience was gaining an education in multicultural areas, a skill she uses today both in helping others and mentoring. Kilynn’s ability to lead a diverse workforce comes from her ability to apply respect to the management of others.
Learn more about the EMBA and GLEMBA programs at the Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas to gain the foundation for your future.
