EMBA Admissions Committee
Applications from both the East and West programs are evaluated by the same Admissions Committee. Please contact us with any questions.
The Executive MBA Admissions Committee
- Anjani Jain
Vice Dean - Catherine Molony
Director, MBA Program for Executives, Philadelphia,
and Director of Admissions, MBA Program for Executives - Bernadette Birt
Executive Director, Wharton MBA Program for Executives, San Francisco, and Chief Operating Officer, Wharton | San Francisco - Katherine Lilygren
Director, Admissions, Wharton MBA Program for Executives, San Francisco - Diane Sharp
Director, Marketing and Associate Director, Admissions - Barbara Nelles Craft
Marketing and Admissions, San Francisco - Suzanne Geouque
Admissions Counselor - Laura Nash
Admissions Counselor - Michelle Leonatti
Admissions Counselor - Sherry Kim
Admissions Counselor - Maia Hughes
Admissions Counselor
Anjani Jain is Vice Dean of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives and Adjunct Professor of Operations and Information Management. Based in Philadelphia, Professor Jain has academic oversight for both the Philadelphia and San Francisco classes. He joined Wharton's faculty in 1986 and has taught courses in operations management and management science at the MBA, Ph.D. and undergraduate levels. In 1993 he became Director of the MBA Program and has been involved with several curricular initiatives. He previously served as Vice Dean of Wharton's full-time MBA Program from 2000 to 2010. He continues to teach in the MBA and Executive Education programs and has won numerous teaching awards. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Indore University in India, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Ph.D. in operations research from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include the analysis and design of manufacturing systems, optimization algorithms, and probabilistic analysis of combinatorial problems. He has also published in the professional literature on telecommunications network design. His more recent work has investigated the impact of growing product variety on the manufacture and design of families of products, especially in the automobile industry.
Catherine Molony is Director of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives, Philadelphia and Director of Admissions for the Wharton MBA Program for Executives. She has been with the program since 1989. She also advises students and assists with their activities, including the management of the International Seminar and Executive Speaker Series Committees. Closely involved in the start-up of and the launch of Wharton's MBA Program for Executives in San Francisco, Cathy has an extensive background in admissions work, which includes serving as associate director of Graduate Admissions at Wharton from 1984 to 1988 and as acting director during the spring term of 1992. She serves on the Board of the Trustees for the Executive MBA Council. In 2005, she was awarded the Executive MBA Council’s highest honor – “The Bud Fackler Award” for service to the EMBA industry by the Executive MBA Council. Cathy received her BFA in Art Education from The Maryland Institute, College of Art. She is based in Philadelphia.
Bernadette Birt is Executive Director of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives, West, and Chief Operating Officer of Wharton | San Francisco. She has been with the program since September 2010. Prior to joining Wharton, Bernadette spent twenty years at Northwestern University, sixteen of those years with the Kellogg School Executive MBA Program. Bernadette’s role grew with EMBA domestic and joint program expansion and encompassed responsibilities for admissions, operations, student affairs, budget & finance, and alumni affairs. Bernadette’s most recent position at Kellogg was Director, Domestic Executive MBA Programs. Bernadette graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in General Studies and a major in Organization Behavior and did graduate coursework in Learning and Organizational Change through the School of Education & Social Policy at Northwestern University. She is based in San Francisco.
Katherine Lilygren is the Director of Admissions of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives in San Francisco. She joined Wharton in 2011 and is responsible for the marketing and admissions area of the San Francisco office. Katherine has extensive experience working in Executive MBA Programs. Prior to joining Wharton, Katherine was the Executive Director of the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program from 2009-2011, and she spent five years as the Director of the Executive MBA Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Katherine graduated from UCLA Anderson with a Master’s in Business Administration and has her BS in Business Administration from University of Southern California. She is based in San Francisco.
Diane Sharp has been with Wharton's MBA Program for Executives since September 1998. She began her career in human resources and recruiting in the insurance industry. She transitioned to education and worked in Admissions at Wharton's full-time MBA Program from 1989 to 1991. Diane received a BA in French and Economics from the University of Nebraska and a Master of International Business degree in Human Resources from the University of South Carolina. Diane is based in Philadelphia.
Barbara Nelles Craft joined the Admissions Committee in January 2002. She has served as Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine and Director of the Executive MBA Program at the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Barbara holds a BS degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MS degree from Saint Joseph's University. Barbara is based in Southern California and does marketing and admissions work for the MBA program for Executives in San Francisco.
Suzanne Geouque joined the Admissions Committee in 2002. Prior to joining Wharton, Suzanne spent eight years working at a Fortune 100 financial services organization. She received her BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina and earned her Master of Business Administration degree from American University in Washington, DC. She is based in Philadelphia.
Laura Nash joined the Admissions Committee in the Spring of 2009. She received her BS in Nursing from The University of Texas at Austin. She has worked as both a staff nurse and a case manager in neonatal intensive care, working with complex cardiac and surgical patients. While at Primary Children's Medical Center, she served on the interviewing committee. Laura is based in Philadelphia.
Michelle Leonatti joined the Admissions Committee in January 2010. She has prior admissions experience at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She has also worked in the fields of finance and educational administration. She received a BS in finance from the University of Illinois and an MS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
Sherry Kim joined the Admissions Committee in the Fall of 2011. Prior to joining Wharton, Sherry spent five years working at one of the Big Four accounting firms in both the Audit and Advisory practices. She also spent two years as a Finance Manager at a Top 5 television broadcasting network in Los Angeles. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley and is a licensed CPA in the State of California. Sherry is based in Philadelphia.
Maia Hughes joined the Admissions Committee in the Fall of 2011. She worked as a Project Manager for an insurance software supplier and later as a Risk Management and Insurance Technology Consultant. She holds the CPCU and ARM designations from the Insurance Institute of America. She received her BA in Government/International Relations from the College of William & Mary and a Master of International Business degree from the University of South Carolina. Maia is based in Philadelphia.
