UC Davis Graduate School of Management

06/01/2026

Alumni Spotlight: Class of 2025 MSBA alumni Jeremy Ampofo (pictured), Jovoney Williams and Kyle Ayisi joined forces and formed Pivot Group as an innovation launchpad right after graduation.

Their most recent product launch HerdSense—an AI-powered monitoring system that spots dairy cow lameness early before it impacts farmers’ cost—was honored at the 2026 UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition.

Ampofo reflects on their entrepreneurial journey and the winning project, which aims to solve a $2B industry challenge: https://bit.ly/4o1AhGU | Cal Aggie Alumni Association

MSBA alumnus Jeremy Twumasi Ampofo, the CEO of HerdSense, a Big Bang! Business Competition Residency Award winner, shares how his team is innovating at the intersection of machine learning and AI integrated with cutting-edge, ruggedized hardware to eliminate subclinical lameness in dairy cattle.

06/01/2026

Universities are driving groundbreaking discoveries in food, health, and agricultural innovation, but transforming research into scalable companies requires more than great science alone.

At the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food & Health, collaboration across researchers, startups, investors, and industry partners is helping bridge that gap.

Hear about the solutions and outcomes at this year’s 2026 IIFH Partner Summit, with highlights from Dean Rao Unnava, Sacramento MBA student Marissa Pickard and Justin Siegel, director of IIFH and Ciocca Visiting Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Read more: https://bit.ly/3Pzj2Ah |

05/29/2026

It's Dean H. Rao Unnava's Final Big 3! 🎬 Check out the 65th and final issue of the Big 3 Video Newsletter before he steps down as dean and begins a sabbatical.

Thank you for following UC Davis Graduate School of Management’s achievements and impact on business education over the years. There’s much more on the horizon!

New this month:

1️⃣ Global Leaders Strategize on Solutions at UC Davis Food & Health Summit (:17)
2️⃣ Why Everyone Gets Personal Branding Wrong (1:32)
3️⃣ Big Bang! Awards Nearly $100,000 to Emerging California Startups (2:41)

Go beyond the Big 3: https://bit.ly/4dVGfEU

05/28/2026

We wrapped up another successful year with UC SIEML! A collaboration among all six University of California business schools, the leadership immersion program exposes rising undergraduates from HBCUs and HSIs to pathways in graduate management education.

Thank you to UC Riverside for hosting our admissions team, faculty and alumni for a Personal Branding session with Lecturer Vanessa Errecarte and an alumni panel. The future looks bright!

Read more about SIEML: https://bit.ly/2YYNglE

Image Descriptions: Students attend a lecture in a classroom. Some are working from laptops, some are recording selfie style videos on smartphones, while wearing blue lanyards.

05/26/2026

Calling All GSM Alumni -- You’re Invited! Join us on June 20th for the 2026 GSM Alumni Reunion. All alumni are welcome, with special recognition for milestone classes from 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021.

Let’s come together to reflect on our achievements and enjoy an evening filled with good food, music, games, and great conversation.

We'll see you there! RSVP here: https://bit.ly/4sCvZre

Image Description: Six people stand together at an outdoor reception, wearing nametags and smiling.

05/26/2026

Maryland is about to become first in the nation for all the wrong reasons, writes Distinguished Professor Hemant Bhargava. The state’s assembly recently passed a bill that would ban an algorithmic tool used by business called “dynamic pricing.”

Read Bhargava’s op-ed for DC Journal:

Maryland is about to become first in the nation for all the wrong reasons. The state’s assembly recently passed a bill that would ban an algorithmic tool

05/22/2026

California is preparing for AI-driven workforce disruption.

Distinguished Professor Hemant Bhargava joined KCRA 3 to discuss Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new executive order focused on helping workers and businesses adapt to artificial intelligence.

“There will be massive disruption and upheaval due to AI,” Bhargava said. “Exactly what direction it will take will depend on many choices that we make.”

Read news story: https://bit.ly/49iEMXF

05/22/2026

The 26th Annual Big Bang! Business Competition awarded nearly $100,000 in prizes to a variety of ventures addressing challenges in veterinary health, education, healthcare, sustainability, food systems and social impact.

From a pool of 90+ entries, 17 teams advanced to the finals. Among the honorees is startup HerdSense, created by three MSBA alumni and a veterinarian. Davis-based startup incubator Inventopia recognized the team with a residency award, providing lab space to continue research and commercialization.

Congratulations to all winners! Read more: https://bit.ly/4nFaJ2g

Photo Description: Tim Keller MBA 08 of Inventopia (far left) stands with members of the Big Bang! First Place team, First Bite, and Jeremy Ampofo MSBA 25 of HerdSense (far right). Two of them are holding oversized keys with yellow ribbons tied to them.

05/20/2026

What does nature actually contribute to the economy? 🌱

Distinguished Emeritus Professor Paul Griffin and his co-author found that businesses operating in areas with healthier ecosystems tended to generate higher sales and profits, based on their study of New Zealand data.

Read the study on The Conversation US >

A New Zealand-focused analysis finds businesses in areas with healthier ecosystems tend to generate higher sales and profits, revealing an overlooked green benefit.

05/19/2026

AI may dominate today’s business headlines, but behind nearly every predictive model, recommendation engine and financial forecast sits a quieter force: the ability to understand relationships within data.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Chih-Ling Tsai’s new book explores the statistical foundations quietly powering machine learning, data analytics and modern decision-making.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3PuSqjO

Image Description: Professor Emeritus Tsai stands in front of a gray building exterior, dressed in a navy blue suit, smiling with arms crossed.