Andrew Dausman MBA’24 knew the first half of his career was ending. Working for nearly two decades in mechanical engineering, he couldn’t help but ask himself what else was possible in his second act.
“On paper, I looked like an engineering manager. In reality, I was a highly capable cross-functional business and technology leader,” Dausman says. “I knew an MBA would give me the credence, weight, and certification of my skills in the business side that would help me stand out in the applicant pool.”
Willamette’s part-time MBA for Professionals program became the clear next step once he learned of the in-person cohort in Portland and intimate class sizes. The opportunity to develop his skills within a learning community where he could get close mentorship from faculty appealed to Dausman. When he arrived, it was clear he was a strong match with the professors and fellow cohort members.
Today, after earning his MBA, he is the Senior Manager of Product Lifecycle Management in Supply Chain Planning & Logistics at Ampere Computing, a semiconductor design company building energy-efficient processors for developing technologies.
The role is a significant step up professionally for Dausman.
“Without the MBA, I would have not had the confidence in my skillset nor the specific business-leadership skills needed to be the candidate Ampere hired,” Dausman says. “I’ve always been drawn to the newest innovation in technology, but from a business perspective. I wanted to learn how the organizations that impact humanity’s future are structured, and I want to lead in those contexts.”
Dausman immediately began applying the lessons and skills he was learning in the program.
“I felt fortunate to start my first term in Professor of Human Resources & Organizational Behavior Ashley Nixon’s course to start building credibility and confidence in what I brought to the table,” he says.
Then, at the moment when Dausman felt like he might be setting his sights too high for his future career goals, Nixon asked him a crucial question that changed everything.
“I distinctly remember early in the process I mentioned feeling I was pursuing too big of a jump into director-level roles and my application would be hard to sell to an employer,” Dausman recalls. “Professor Nixon asked me, ‘Why do you feel unqualified to be a director?’ That question reframed the entire problem for me. I realized that I’m attracted to those roles because I thought I would be good at them, and I had the skill set to do it. That was a turning point for me.”
Paying it forward with a new venture
Now, Dausman is taking the confidence and knowledge he gained at Willamette and paying it forward with a small business that started in the Developing New Ventures course with Assistant Professor Strategic Management Anusha Ramesh.
Wanting to help others in the position Dausman found himself in several years ago, he launched High Cadence LLC as a career coaching program drawing directly from lessons he learned in the MBA program and the personalized mentorship he received at Willamette.
“Overall, it was a very empowering experience. It helped me realize how much I already knew, how much I could contribute, in addition to gaining new skills. I took those lessons to new organizations and projects,” Dausman adds.
Dausman considers Willamette’s return on investment to be extremely strong.
“I encourage anyone looking to take a similar leap to do it,” he says. “Once you get that first promotion, you’ll see its worth.”
