The Historian’s Notebook: How Alums Remember Their First Days on Campus

The Historian’s Notebook: 50 Years of Business & Society is a blog series created in preparation for the 50th anniversary of Yale SOM in September 2026. The series is written by Yale SOM’s resident historian, Michelle Spinelli. Reach out if you have an idea for a blog post, memories or photos to share, or an inquiry about SOM history.

Each year, a new cohort of SOMers arrives on campus and forms new relationships—with each other, with faculty, and with the school itself. For today’s blog post, we asked a group of SOM alums from the each decade of the school’s history to recall their first impressions of the school and its community. Was it love at first sight? What surprised them? And how did first impressions change as the school grew from a scrappy startup still under construction to the institution that today offers an array of master’s degree programs from the soaring Edward P. Evans Hall?

Jeffrey Yudkoff ’78
Master’s in Public and Private Management (MPPM)

Mostly, I was just in awe of being there. I was a bit taken by the informality of the place. I managed to call my teachers by their first names, but I could never call Bill Donaldson anything but “Dean Donaldson.” My other first impression was that the building next to Watson Hall, which had previously housed the astronomy department, was ours. The telescope was still in the building, and on a September summer night I got to see the rings of Saturn for the first time. Lastly, that first semester, Robert Fetter held a class on production. As a prerequisite, it required having taken accounting. It turned out that only my friend Craig and I had taken accounting as undergraduates, so we were the only two students in the class. At our first session, Dr. Fetter explained the class would work on the case method, and we would do a case every week. He then asked if there were any questions. Craig raised his hand and asked, “Can we work in teams?”

Barbara Jo Pease ’82
MBA

I was amazed at the expertise of the faculty and their genuine interaction with the students. The faculty encouraged us to challenge them and each other, but to do so in a collaborative way. To me, that was and still is very unique in academia.

The rich differences among the students were surprising to me: from those who attended prep schools to those who grew up in rural communities; from those who had experience in the work world to those who were right out of undergrad; from students in their 40s to students in their early 20s; people across the U.S. and many other countries. The discussions due to the richness of experiences were outstanding.

The uniqueness of having essentially a pass-fail system encouraged teamwork and collaboration, which is essential to exceed in careers and in life. This encouraged learning versus just getting a grade. I had never experienced that before.

If you couple these three factors with a small class size, a beautiful campus, and a unique and rich curriculum, SOM defined its place in history with the Yale MPPM/MBA degree.

Martha Tracey ’92
MBA

My very first impressions of SOM came on a campus visit before I had made my decision about which graduate program to attend. I was struck by the strong sense of community and thought that SOM would offer the type of environment in which I could thrive. When I got to campus, I was pleased to find that community was indeed a key part of our experience. I was impressed by the remarkable diversity in professional background and the varied interests of my classmates. I remember classmates who came from all sectors and were passionate about so many areas including the arts, the environment, healthcare, and media and publishing. There was also a strong culture of collaboration on campus. With community, diversity, collaboration, and, of course, excellent teaching, I loved my experience at SOM.

While my career has been in the private sector, I have always loved the arts and believe the arts are critical for our communities. I am thankful that my background at SOM has helped me contribute to arts organizations locally by serving in several capacities, including board membership, strategic planning, and recruiting.

Chris Douvos ’01
MBA

My first encounter with SOM was as a Yale undergraduate looking for the best burger on campus, and Donaldson Commons earned the crown. As sophomores, we grabbed lunch there several times a week, but the secret got out and Donaldson was overrun, leading to a temporary ban on undergrads. When I applied to business schools years later, every time I picked up my SOM application a Pavlovian bell rang and dreams of juicy, flame-grilled burgers filled my imagination. When it came time to make a school decision, the choice of SOM was inevitable—and during my time there Donaldson never disappointed.

Amanda Skinner ’08
MBA for Executives (EMBA)

My earliest impressions of Yale SOM were formed by the people I interacted with before I even applied. I graduated from the Yale School of Nursing in 1998 and I was a bit over seven years into my career as a nurse-midwife when I learned that an MBA for Executives program focusing on leadership in healthcare had launched. I was not an executive, but I was a young leader in my field. I had career aspirations—to become a leader at Planned Parenthood (nailed it!)—and was considering whether and when to pursue further schooling. I reached out to a personal connection who was the head of admissions for the Yale School of Medicine and he introduced me to Howie Forman. I connected with Howie immediately and found him brilliant, pointed, kind, authentic. I thought to myself, “If this person is any indication of the caliber of people I'll be around, then Yale SOM is the school for me.”

I went on to meet with Stan Garstka, then a deputy dean, and had the same feeling. I shadowed a class and, again, got the same feeling from both students and faculty. Here's the great thing: everyone I encountered was different. There wasn’t a sense of uniformity or collective assimilation into a singular way of being. Instead of commonality, there were common threads of curiosity, decency, and sharp thinking. The mere fact that I received so much encouragement despite being an atypical MBA candidate (not a lot of midwives pursuing MBAs in those days—I think I might be the first ever at SOM!) made it clear that I would be welcomed at the school. In my two years at SOM, the students I met and faculty I learned from exceeded those high expectations. Truly, it's the relationships we build and the people we engage with that make or break these experiences. Sixteen years after graduating, I carry on deep and impactful friendships from my time at SOM and am so grateful that my first impressions are also my remaining impressions.

Vivian Li ’13
Master of Advanced Management (MAM)

I am from the inaugural MAM class. My first impression of SOM, besides the beauty of the campus, was the very supportive and welcoming orientation. The school made such deliberate efforts for us international students to settle in. For example, we were invited to Dean Snyder’s house to mingle, and the whole class—20 students—took a limousine ride to New York City just so that we could experience local culture, like listening to rap music and seeing graffiti art in the Bronx. It was simply mind-blowing for me, both intellectually and culture-wise.

Sumit Aneja ’14
MBA

When I first arrived at Yale, I was struck by how incredibly smart yet humble everyone was—there was a bit of competition, but the atmosphere was always collegial and supportive. The cozy campus made it easy to form lasting relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, from government and international policy to private equity.

My time at Yale was incredible—it's where I met my wife, made some amazing friends, and built a solid professional network that's helped me along the way. The learning experience there was eye-opening, thanks to some great professors who really shaped how I think. Yale's education played a huge part in getting me where I am in my career today.

Wendy Davis ’14
EMBA

Arriving as an EMBA in the healthcare focus area, I was immediately struck by the diversity of backgrounds, prior experiences, geographic homes, and career interests amongst our small group of classmates. The professors were incredibly engaging, capturing my attention and imagination immediately. I was so excited to be part of this group despite suffering from imposter syndrome (which, as it turns out, was initially true for many of us).

Robert King ’14
MBA

My first impression of SOM was formed during my interview visit. As I made my way down Hillhouse Avenue, I was struck by its beauty—a sentiment that I later learned was shared by Twain and Dickens, who reportedly called it “the most beautiful street in America.” However, what truly set SOM apart for me was the remarkable friendliness and warmth of my fellow interviewees. I remember thinking to myself that if this was what the applicant pool was like (at a moment of considerable stress, no less), then I would feel perfectly at home at SOM.

Paul Bashir ’19
Master’s in Global Business and Society (GBS)

Steve Jobs once said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” This resonates with my time at SOM, where I realized immediately that I had the unique opportunity to follow my interests and work on becoming a whole and well-rounded person. Unlike any other school I had attended before, SOM encouraged us to explore a wide range of intellectual interests. I took classes that were simply interesting, without immediate relevance to business, and these experiences enriched my perspective for the rest of my life. During my first semester, I vividly remember having to choose between attending a lunch talk with former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, a professor discussing research on black holes, or an entrepreneur sharing insights on building a mobile phone network in Bangladesh. I chose black holes. These experiences, combined with the heterogeneous backgrounds of my bright and accomplished classmates, made my time at SOM intellectually stimulating and deeply enriching.

MiChaela M. Barker ’24
MBA

My first impression of Yale SOM was that no one was alike. Growing up, I thought that those in business strictly wore black, tan, and navy; crunched numbers; and lived and breathed finance. While that is a passion for some, SOM happily surprised me by showing me just how diverse business, and the people who are leaders in business, can be.

During my first few conversations with SOM students, I heard about their interests and passions. We talked about everything from producing music to skincare, investments, theater, book clubs, pilot lessons, and more. Walking through Evans Hall, it was also wonderful to see how people were not in a rush to leave the building. They stayed behind, chatted with friends, professors, and cohort mates, and made it clear that SOM was a place they genuinely loved to be.