THE FIRST PH.D. COHORT

Welcome to the Ph.D. Class of ’27!

Kezia Oketch
Ph.D. in Analytics

Oketch learned early on the importance of time management. During her undergraduate education, she maintained a scholarship while also balancing studying, working part time and volunteering to gain relevant work experience.

That experience prepared her for this step in her academic career: a Ph.D. in Analytics. Oketch aims to build a network of like-minded individuals with a passion for learning, and use her newly acquired skills to empower herself and those around her.

Marialena Bevilacqua
Ph.D. in Analytics

Through her education, Bevilacqua learned to appreciate the importance of “cura personalis,” which calls for the respect of every individual in their entirety. She truly believes that Mendoza’s
Ph.D. in Analytics program allows her to fulfill her passion of employing cura personalis through scholarly ethics-based research and teaching.

Bevilacqua hopes that her work will not only contribute to technology ethics literature, but also will encourage businesses to implement data-driven findings in an effort to practice ethical behavior in the workplace. Bevilacqua has dreamed of attending Notre Dame and feels “extremely blessed” to be a part of this university.

Xinyuan Zhang
Ph.D. in Analytics

As a Chinese student, Zhang didn’t know much about Notre Dame before looking into
Mendoza’s Ph.D. program. Zhang’s goal is to use her quantitative knowledge and skills to investigate and solve practical problems.

Most of all, Zhang is confident she will gain great research experience that will help her become the future professor and researcher she wants to be.

William Stamey
Ph.D. in Analytics

Stamey knows that analytics is a fast-growing field and appreciates that Mendoza has tailored the Ph.D. in Analytics program to be cutting-edge. But more than that, the Texas native chose the program because of the University’s human-centric approach to quantitative fields. He aims to use his time in the program as an opportunity to better understand business operations for people.

“The role of technology in human society is not settled yet,” said Stamey. “I hope to help the effort to make that role beneficial.”

Jefferson McClain
Ph.D. in Management, Organizational Behavior

For McClain, choosing Mendoza for his Ph.D. boiled down to two elements: the College’s Management faculty and the combination faith- and science-based values. At Mendoza, he could see himself living his professional mission, “Mediocrity will never do.” 

This mission stems from hearing an address by Gordon B. Hinckley at Brigham Young University. Since then, the Utah native has sought to apply that phrase in his research, which he hopes will make the workplace better for future generations.

Claudia Torres
Ph.D. in Management, Organizational Behavior

Torres’ interest in academia was sparked by previous experience in neuroscience and rare disease research. But it was not until completing her Master of Science in Management at Mendoza that she discovered her interest in organizational behavior.

The New Jersey native’s decision to enter Notre Dame’s Ph.D. in Management was about more than learning; it was about Mendoza’s supportive culture, dedication to research and how the rigor will prepare her for an academic career. The commitment to “Grow the Good in Business” is fully lived and exhibited at Mendoza, aligning with her goal to develop holistically as a scholar.

Henrique Goncalves
Ph.D. in Management, Strategy & Entrepreneurship

As a chemical engineer from Brazil, Goncalves worked for a few years in the oil and gas industry. He admits he had a nice career, but it never felt like a dream job. He began to look for something more fulfilling and found the Notre Dame MBA program. There, Professor Mike Mannor planted a seed about the Ph.D. program, and for five years Goncalves contemplated the possibility.

Joining the Ph.D. program has been one of his most memorable moments, and now he’s excited to be back at his alma mater for this next step in his career.

Sarah Sarjoo
Ph.D. in Management, Strategy & Entrepreneurship

Sarjoo is no stranger to hard work. This is personified in her achievement of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro in June 2022. The climb required months of training and preparation, but instilled in her the importance of continuously putting one foot in front of the other in an effort to conquer any mountain she faces in life. 

Mendoza’s Ph.D. program is that next mountain. A native of South Africa, Sarjoo sees the program as her opportunity to launch her academic career and contribute to literature streams of social and sustainable entrepreneurship.

Read about the inaugural Ph.D. programs in Groundbreakers.

Photos by Matt Cashore.