Adam Rozwadowski
President
Adam is a 2024 Full-Time MBA Candidate focusing on Technology and Operations. He was born and raised in Connecticut and received his bachelor’s degree in communications from UConn. Next, he earned a master’s degree in Broadcast & Digital Journalism from Syracuse University. This paved the way for an 8-year career as a multimedia journalist in the media and entertainment industry. His journey included stops at MLB Network, CBS Sports, NowThis, Sports Illustrated, and two Olympics with NBC Sports. After graduation, Adam aims to continue in the tech space as a program manager. He loves to make the most of his free time enjoying the beautiful weather and beaches that brought him out to Southern California.
Alec Shaul
Vice President of Finance
Alec Shaul is a 2024 Full-Time MBA candidate focusing on Real Estate and Finance. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Alec completed his undergraduate degree at Boston University with a concentration in Accounting and Business Law. After graduation, he worked in private accounting in Boston’s CBRE office where his interest in real estate developed. After moving back to Los Angeles in 2019, he worked for a real estate firm focused on investments and operations of retail strip malls. Post-MBA, Alec hopes to work in Real Estate Acquisitions and possibly Development. In his free-time, Alec enjoys playing sports such as golf and basketball. He also enjoys finding local hiking trails and spending time at the beach.
Mark Valenzuela
Vice President of Operations
Mark Valenzuela is a 2024 Full-Time MBA candidate focusing on marketing in the healthcare industry. Mark was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to the United States when he was 18. He joined the United States Air Force 2 years after immigrating to the US and served as a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counselor at an Air Force Base in Germany for 5 ½ years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at Arizona State University. In his free time, Mark enjoys traveling and has been to 28 countries around the world – meeting and creating lifelong friendships with people from different cultures.
Connor Haseley
Vice President of Marketing
Connor is a FTMBA student currently serving in the US Air Force. He is the president of the Merage Marketing Association, president of the beach and surf club, and the vice president of Marketing for the Merage Student Association. He is an avid outdoor enthusiast, loves to be around his fellow anteaters, and believes that anything is possible if you put enough passion and power into your work!
Henry Kim
Vice President of Communication
Doyoon Henry Kim is a Fully-Employed MBA candidate with a focus on Marketing and Strategy. Henry has received his bachelor’s degree in communications from UC San Diego and is experienced in eCommerce. He has joined UCI’s Merage MBA program to further expand his network in Orange County and take a deeper dive into Marketing Strategy. Currently, Henry is an Associate Manager of eCommerce at Jack in the Box/Del Taco Corporation in the Marketing Technology Department. Post-MBA, he intends to pursue a role as a consultant with an emphasis in Marketing Technology and Digital Transformation.
Deb Mandal
Vice President of Tech
Deb is a 2024 Full-Time MBA student focusing on strategy and technology consulting as his post-MBA goal. He received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in India. Before attending Merage, he worked as an IT Analyst for over 8 years. He has been witnessing first-hand how developments in analytics are driving decisions at a corporate level. He has been working on digital technology implementations, especially in the field of cloud computing and ML model building. With this MBA, he now looks forward to enhancing his leadership and interpersonal skills and gaining business knowledge through the MBA to transition to strategic roles in technology companies driving digital transformations. In his free time, Deb enjoys cooking and spending time with friends and family over food fresh from his kitchen.
Jessica Gonsalvez
Vice President of Social
Jessica Gonsalves is a 2024 Full-Time MBA candidate. Prior to joining the Merage family, she graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Marketing. She then went on to work for 3M's Industrial Division as an outside sales representative where she managed an $8 million territory in North Orange County. Jessica chose the Merage School because of their location and small close-knit community. She was also very excited to get involved and grow professionally during her time in business school. Along with serving on the MSA board she is also a Student Ambassador that connects with prospective students and new applicants. She has grown to love the community at Merage and wants to give back and provide a positive experience to current and prospective students. She is excited to plan events this upcoming year for the Merage Graduate Student Body!
Alex Hammarth
Vice President of Social
Alex Hammarth is a 2024 Full-Time MBA candidate focusing on product management and marketing in the tech space. An Orange County local, Alex received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Emerson College in Boston, MA. After graduating, Alex began working in marketing for an Alphabet subsidiary company where she worked on the product launch for LinkNYC, New York's first free Wi-Fi kiosk system. She then transitioned into marketing and business development for a global award-winning architecture firm. Post-MBA, Alex hopes to return to the tech space to work on a product that helps improve people's lives. In addition to pursuing her MBA, Alex also serves as Class Representative for the Full-Time MBA Class of 2024 cohort, Alumni Chair for the Black Management Association (BMA), and EVP Marketing for the Product Club at UCI.
Nikhil Dawra
Vice President of International Student Relations
Nikhil is currently in his second year of pursuing a full-time MBA at the Paul Merage School of Business. Prior to embarking on his MBA journey, Nikhil had 4.5 years of experience with BlackRock in their Aladdin Product Group. During this time, he collaborated closely with the technology and design team, contributing to the enhancement of Aladdin, the portfolio management software, by developing features and scalable software solutions. Nikhil's decision to join the Merage School was based on its unique digitally focused curriculum and exceptional faculty, offering him the tools to excel as a prominent leader in today's digitally oriented economy. Additionally, he was drawn to the school's diverse and tightly knit community, situated in Orange County, which provides access to a range of national and global corporations. Beyond his professional pursuits, Nikhil is a passionate photographer, a penchant hiker, and enjoys spending time by the beach whenever possible.
Anomitro Bhowmick
Vice President of Specialty Masters Program
Anomitro is a 2023 Part-Time MPAc candidate focusing on Data Analytics track. He was born and raised in India and has been in Los Angles for over 10 years. He has completed his Bachelor’s in Instrumentation Engineering from Mumbai University and has worked for Power and Paper & Pulp industries. He came to United States to pursue Master’s in Electrical Engineering at CSU Long Beach emphasizing in Control Systems and Robotics. As a graduate student at Long Beach, he initiated MESA School Program’s Robotics curriculum for Middle and High School students at LBUSD. He played a pivotal role in Upward Bound Math-Science Program which aided 100 low-income, first-generation, underrepresented minority students in pursuing their college dreams. Upon graduation he started working for technology licensing for petrochemical and refining domain. Currently, he is involved in design of Energy Transition, Carbon Capture and Hydrogen projects. His interest lies at the intersection of accounting, finance, and economics with application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to analyze large datasets. Anomitro’s primary reason to join Merage was because of reputed faculty, industry-based curriculum, and diverse & inclusive Merage ecosystem. In addition to his role at MSP, he is Class Representative for part-time MPAc 23 cohort and Merage Student Ambassador. During his free time, Anomitro indulges in outdoor activities such as hiking, walking, photography and reading.
Afsheen Bazrafkan
Vice President of FEMBA
Afsheen was born in Seattle, and moved to Southern California, where he's lived most of his life. He received his bachelor's degree in 2012 at UC Irvine in Biological Sciences. Subsequently, Afsheen joined a brand new neurocritical care laboratory at the School of Medicine at UC Irvine, helping to build it from the ground up. After managing the lab for ten years, and recently finding a passion for business, Afsheen draws from his management experience running a startup laboratory to now pursue an MBA. In his free time, Afsheen likes to attend F45 classes at the ARC, play flag football, perform improvised comedy, and have game nights.
Mark Sobers, M.D
Vice President of EMBA
Mark is an EMBA ’24 student. After many years of thinking about getting an MBA, he decided to go for it, and it was the perfect decision. Professionally, he is a physician and works as a hospitalizing Internal Medicine doctor. He also has a long association with UCI as a Volunteer clinical professor at the Medical Campus in Orange and attends in the outpatient clinics. UCI Paul Merage acknowledged that by accepting him into their EMBA program. EMBA program has a nice group of people, and he feels very comfortable with them because everybody is working full-time and shares the same values. However, he still enjoys meeting students from other cohorts such as FEMBAs/FlexMBAs and traditional MBA students, especially in the electives. Being involved with the MSA committee allows him to support the Paul Merage School of Business in a different way as a volunteer.
The Associated Graduate Students is the recognized graduate student association at the University of California, Irvine. We represent nearly 3,100 graduate and professional students to the campus and system wide administration on a number of issues. The AGS is governed by a President, four Vice Presidents elected by the Council, and a Council of representatives elected by each academic unit. The Council meets every two weeks.
![]() Chris Lam |
![]() Xuan Xie |
![]() TBA |