Joshua Dow grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, then attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned his undergraduate degree in economics.

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“After the Naval Academy, I received a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as an officer for eight years,” he said. He spent most of his time in the Middle East and Japan, then in 2010, left the Marines and relocated to Flagstaff, where he worked for Nestle Purina as a production team leader in the pet food factory. “Around the same time, I married my wife Amber,” he said. “In 2012, we moved to Tucson so I could pursue an MBA at Eller.”

Dow focused on an MBA, he said, “because I saw it as the best way to learn how to adapt my military experience to business opportunities. I found Eller appealing because of the small class size and experiential learning requirements like business communication and student consulting projects.”

Last summer, he worked for heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar as a global purchasing corporate intern. “It provided an excellent opportunity to gain experience at a Fortune 50 company and added a top-tier manufacturing experience to my resume,” he said.

After graduation, Dow will join Eaton Corporation’s global leadership development program for MBAs. “My wife and I are moving to Minneapolis, where I will be a product strategy manager in Eaton’s Hydraulics Business Unit,” he said.

Looking back, Dow points to the business communication course, the consulting project, and the international trip to China as highlights. “I think the most important aspect of this program, due to the small class size, is the relationships that I have built,” he said. “It will be tough to say goodbye to some of the people here, but it is comforting to be able to call Eller home.”

Header photo courtesy Chad Runge.