Donna W. Bauer of the Johnson Graduate School of Management used the school's 12-month MBA option -- for those with advanced scientific or technical degrees -- to gain her MBA. Charles Harrington/University Photography
By Darryl Geddes
Donna W. Bauer is used to completing assignments ahead of schedule. She finished a five-year doctoral degree program in cell biology at Johns Hopkins University in three-and-a-half years and wrote and defended her dissertation in less than a month. So it's no surprise that when she decided to add an MBA to her résumé she turned to Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, which offers a fast-track, 12-month MBA option for those with advanced scientific or technical degrees.
"That was a major selling point," Bauer said. "I wasn't prepared to spend two more years in school, so the Johnson School's 12-month option was a perfect fit. It enabled me to get a solid business education in a year." Bauer's MBA was conferred at Cornell's Commencement ceremonies May 25.
Students in the 12-month MBA option bring to Cornell a background that includes much quantitative training and practical experience, enabling them to move at an accelerated pace through the first-year curriculum and focus on the business applications of those skills.
Bauer's Ph.D. and MBA have made her a hot commodity. After considering various offers, she accepted a position with American Practice Management (APM), a New York City-based health care consulting firm. While Bauer believes it was her MBA that got her the interview, she said APM was most interested in her science background.
"They wanted to know my thoughts on a variety of issues, such as improving teaching hospitals to building better relationships between researchers and pharmaceutical companies," she said.
Bauer noted that APM is entering some new science- and health-related fields and the firm was looking for someone who could talk about and understand scientific issues well but had a business education.
Bauer, who hails from Cockeysville, Md., was on a career path mostly followed by those pursuing research careers in academe before turning her attention to the corporate world. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in biology from Washington College, a small liberal arts college in Chestertown, Md., and was accepted into the doctoral program in cellular and molecular biology at Johns Hopkins. She deferred admission for a year to pursue research abroad as a Fulbright Scholar, studying thermal vent bacteria in laboratories and hospitals in the United Kingdom.
"It's very exciting to understand more fully basic and applied research, but in my travels to numerous hospitals I was exposed to the business of science; I wanted to do more with my science training than research," she said.
At Johns Hopkins, she was a National Institutes of Health Graduate Research Fellow. She also directed and organized the 19th Annual Carnegie Symposium and designed and managed weekly lab courses for pre-med undergraduates.
Unlike a bench scientist who may spend long hours doing solitary research, Bauer said her strengths lie in her ability to communicate science and interact with people, especially when working in teams. "That's why consulting is so attractive, because it enables me to do business in science-related fields," she said.
At the Johnson School, Bauer has been active in the Consulting Club and the Women's Management Council and has served as vice president of the Healthcare Club. She also has been assisting the admissions office in reviewing applications for incoming 12-month MBA option classes.
"We're seeing numerous applications from scientists at the top labs, who may feel the way I do; they're interested in leveraging their science knowledge in the business world," she said.
Having accepted a job, Bauer is now eager to get to work. "After spending nine years in college, I want to get some on-the-job experience, which is what makes consulting a good place to start. They say 'every year as a consultant is worth three years of employment,' because you're exposed to so many issues," she said.
But before she reports to work in July, Bauer will enjoy some sun and surf in the Caribbean and take a two-week holiday with her husband in Ireland. All rest and relaxation with not a worry or concern? "Well, APM has sent me some health-care binders I need to read by July," she said, with a chuckle.