Commencement celebrates nearly 500 students completing graduate business degrees

A Netflix advertising executive and Rutgers MBA alumna told nearly 500 students completing graduate programs at Rutgers Business School that “there are no shortcuts to a good reputation” during the 2026 convocation ceremony.

Nicolle Pangis, vice president of advertising at Netflix, told the graduating students assembled before her inside the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Prudential Hall, that the “thing about reputations is they travel.”

The annual graduate program convocation, which reflects both Rutgers Business School’s history as a graduate school of management and its current ranking as a top business school in the Northeast with 15 masters programs, opened with remarks from Vice Dean Shen Yeniyurt and ended with a traditional ringing of the school bell – accompanied this year by a blast of festive red metallic streamers. 

In between, Dean Lei Lei delivered encouraging words to the Class of 2026 and Rutgers Business School staff member Jenean Wicker-Davis wowed the crowd with a powerful rendition of the National Anthem. 

The Class of 2026 included a total of nearly 800 students who completed graduate programs ranging from the traditional Master of Business Administration to more contemporary programs like Master of Science in Digital Marketing and Master of Science in Healthcare Analytics and Intelligence. The convocation celebrated 497 students, including 39 Executive MBAs, 140 Part-Time MBAs and 28 Full-Time MBAs.

In her commencement address, Pangis told the graduating students she got her current role at Netflix after someone she had worked with recommended her. “You have to build (a reputation) through hard work, over years,” she said. “You can’t post your way to it. You can’t network your way to it.”

When she completed her Rutgers MBA in 2005, Pangis told the graduating students she felt proud and exhausted. She also remembers feeling excited and scared at the same time.

“I had good reason to be nervous. Because I’m not your typical-looking business executive,” she said. A petite woman, Pangis said before she started working at Netflix, she spent five and a half years as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. “I can’t tell you how many times I’d introduce myself at meetings and someone would ask what I did. “I’d say, I’m the CEO and they would tell me with surprise, ‘You don’t look like a CEO.’”

“For a long time, I felt as though all the superpowers required to be successful in business were things I didn’t have,” Pangis said. “Eventually, I realized there were things I did have – things I used to thing were my weaknesses. Being an introvert. Being observant. Being a bit quirky and a lot geeky.”

“Here’s what I want to say to all of you, and especially those of you who may feel you don’t fit the mold,” she said. “The world doesn’t need more of the same. It needs you.”

During the ceremony, Vice Dean Yeniyurt, the master of ceremonies, ensured that two traditions continued: First was a shout out to all the veterans and active duty military in the crowd and second, a selfie from the podium with the rows of black gown-clad graduates seated behind him on the floor of Prudential Hall.

Dean Lei offered the graduating students a message of encouragement and congratulations. “You’re one of the first classes to graduate in the AI Era,” she said. “You have learned not to fear change, but to adapt to it."

She reminded them that Rutgers Business School has produced many CEOs – “like your commencement speaker” she said. And many other C-Suite leaders. “The business world needs you,” she told them.

“Dream boldly. Redefine possibilities. Lead with courage,” she said. “And make your mark.”

-Susan Todd