Alumni Spotlight: Whitney A. Lesch, Global Manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb

Whitney A. Lesch graduated from the Rutgers Pharmaceutical MBA program in 2010.   She is now a Manager of Global Development and Medical Affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb

Why did you choose Rutgers Business School for your MBA?
I was seeking a business school that had either a health care or a pharmaceutical business concentration because I wanted to be in an industry that would allow me to leverage my science background and my undergrad degree in chemistry.  When I found out about the Pharmaceutical MBA program at Rutgers, it seemed like a logical fit based on the curriculum and from conversations I’d had with professors there.  The in-state tuition vs. some of the more expensive private colleges and the location, (I was living in Hoboken at the time), further influenced my choice.  I was awarded a pharmaceutical industry management scholarship before I started at Rutgers and that also helped to drive my decision.  The Rutgers Pharma MBA program allowed me to have access to the companies that sponsored the management program as well as connections to the alumni of those programs.  So attending Rutgers gave me the opportunity to merge my past experience with my future education, and to have access to executives in an industry I was passionate about.

What important gains did you make at Rutgers  and how did they shape your career goals?
I appreciated that major pharmaceutical companies came in and helped to craft the courses that we were taking, designing them for what they thought an MBA grad needed who was hoping to enter their industry.  This made the subjects we were studying really relevant.  Those courses became invaluable for my future internship. Also the companies offered such great support in terms of core services, live speaker events, and activities at campus clubs. The connections I made during the speaker events were the most valuable and really taught me not only how to present myself to key executives but also to be comfortable in eliciting information from them.

Since you graduated, have you found that you’re on your desired career path?
Absolutely! I started at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in June 2010 as an associate manager and was promoted to manager by November.  I think already the education, and what I brought to the table, has been recognized and I have been promoted accordingly.  The R&D program at BMS that I came in through, as an intern, and where I’m now a full-time employee, is still very new. There’s not a set career trajectory at the firm.  You design your own and it’s more configured for your customization.  Right now, I’m positioned very nicely to manage and leverage my skill set as I move forward along my career path.

What are the best qualities a business school can offer to help graduates build  a career?
I think across the board, having the support of an excellent career services advisor is essential; one who will work closely with students on their weaknesses and help them capitalize on their strengths.  During my preparations for interviewing I was taught how to ensure that my strengths came through to a hiring manager and how to showcase my talents.  Focusing on developing a strong self-awareness and having people work with you to help you identify that is key.  Having faculty and staff that’s plugged in with different companies and organizations is also important.  Creating strong alumni connections between current students and recent graduates, and with people who have been out of school longer, really helps the students along the way understand what they have to do to be successful.

How will Pharma MBA graduates like yourself impact the pharmaceutical world in its current state of flux?
I think that students now emerging from Pharma MBA programs, such as the one Rutgers offers, are hired into these larger, more conservative pharmaceutical companies and are expected to come in with a fresh perspective and to be the drivers of change, really promote their entrepreneurial attitude, and contribute their ideas around innovation.  I know that’s something that BMS really values.  They want new people to ask “How can we do this more quickly and efficiently and how can we be more innovative in our entire business model.”  Going through the Rutgers program offered a rich if demanding experience such as working on team projects with limited resources, short timelines, and different personality types.  I think what the new crop of MBA students going into pharma will hopefully bring is a sense of how to help drive the industry into a more innovative and entrepreneurial model.

How did you move from the chenistry lab to the business side of your industry?
In the beginning I was doing some bench science after graduation, but I had very limited interaction with people.  My daily routine was running the same tests over and over again and my work was a lot of repetition.  I was missing the ability to interact with a broad variety of people.  At  that point I decided go back to business school. I was only about six months out of undergrad and I knew I needed to work on a cross-functional team and to understand how a global organization was run.  When I transitioned into business school, what I gained most from my past experience was how to speak with scientists.  Now I’m working predominantly with physicians at BMS and I know how relate to them.  They have a certain respect for my background because I did study hard science and I’m not coming off as just a business person telling  them how to do things.  So, in addition to understanding the importance of science, and being attracted to the problem-solving aspects of it, I’ve also been able to pull in the ability to communicate with people that value those things as well.

Do you have an ultimate goal of where you want to go in the pharmaceutical industry?
I want to move into different positions that are challenging but that allow me to be creative.  Ultimately, I would like to have more connection with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, this is our philanthropic arm that does a lot of global work with people suffering from HIV, AIDS, and hepatitis.  We not only offer medications but help to build infrastructures to support people who are suffering from these diseases.  It’s something that pharma stresses in the industry, so no matter what position I am in, I’d like to focus more on giving back.