Celebrating 30 years serving the capital region, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management's Sacramento Part-Time MBA Program inaugural class member Vinny Catalano MBA 97 shares about his cohort's experience, the value of the program, and his personal professional success. Looking back, the launch of then UC Davis Working Professional MBA in Sacramento was "a defining moment" for the Graduate School of Management, said then-Dean and Professor Robert Smiley.

Now 30 years in, the part-time program has 1,600 graduates, many of whom live and work in the capital region. They're company and community leaders, policy influencers and trailblazing entrepreneurs making a positive impact and driving growth.

Since earning his MBA in 1997, Catalano has stayed well connected to the School, volunteering as a director and president of the Graduate School of Management's Alumni Association, mentoring students, moderating alumni speaker events and emceeing GSM events—just to name a few. His peers honored him with the GSM Alumni Association’s 2008-2009 Outstanding Service Award.

“Having an MBA is gold. You can’t put a dollar figure on it. It’s really for the richness of living better. You learn new things, you build a new network, you engage with people in this world in a different way by having an MBA. That is an important distinction from just any other degree—an MBA anchors you in the world in a way that I think no other degree does,"

— Vinny Catalano MBA 97

Most importantly, Catalano said earning an MBA allowed him to rebrand himself from an undergraduate chemistry major into a successful business leader.

“Having the MBA was life-changing for me.”

Learn more at: https://gsm.ucdavis.edu/sacramento-part-time-mba