Alumni Testimonials

Alumni talk about their careers and Webster!

Dr. Diana Bank Guzmán, MA, MBA
Full-time professor at the Department of International Business, Unversidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico
MA '89 (International Relations)

"I came to Vienna and studied at Webster for 18 months from 1987 to 1988. By that time, I was hooked on Vienna and on international relations. The people I met at Webster, the professors I had and Austria made me want to know and study even more. I continued my studies first at the “Diplomatische Akademie” also in Vienna, before going back to the US to work at the US Congress and at the Mexican Embassy in Washington DC, doing lobbying for the NAFTA negotiations. With this in hand, I moved to New York to do an MBA and to Israel for a PhD in international business, which seemed to complement my previous studies. Since then, I have been teaching at various institutions, but decided on settling (at least for now) in Puebla, Mexico, where I teach international relations and affairs, as well as marketing.

My time in Vienna and at Webster were the most important years in my formation as a professional. Webster Vienna opened doors for me, I could not think possible, and opened my eyes to the real world and made me appreciate the limitless possibilities I had been offered. Since then, I “preach” higher education, travel, languages and a definite stop in Vienna, if only for a visit."

Selmin Birsel
Responsible for Revenue Management at Inter-
Continental Wien and Area Revenue Manager, Central Eastern Europe for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts
BA '91 (Management/Marketing)

"Webster University was the perfect combination for me. It provided me with strong fundamentals for my career. I had the opportunity to study in an American educational system and at the same time learn a second foreign language, German. In my last semester I completed a four month voluntary internship in a 5* hotel in cooperation with Webster University. Due to Vienna’s central location and good accessibility I also had the opportunity to travel to other European cities at that time.

Since 1991, I have held various operational positions in Front Office, Banquets & Catering and moved up the ladder in Sales & Marketing, holding positions from Sales Manager to Director of Sales & Marketing. Currently I am responsible for Revenue Management at InterContinental Wien (responsibilities cover Pricing, Positioning, Strategically Planning, Budgeting, and forecasting). Additionally I act as Area Revenue Manager, Central Eastern Europe for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the luxury brand of IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) which is the largest hotel chain by number of rooms; supporting hotels in Budapest, Prague, Bucharest, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Astana and Almaty."

Mag. Nassif Andre Chehab
Senior Vice President, Head Financial Institution FIMBANK PLC.
MA '86 (Economics/Finance)

"The availability of professors with the necessary qualifications, flexibility in the course timing and assistance when needed were paramount requirements for me. Webster covered all my requirements and gave me the necessary tools to further my career. Much of my success is attributed to my education, degrees and having been exposed to different cultures and languages Even now after 21 years from my graduation, I am proud to say I am a graduate of Webster Vienna."

Anton Chirkosvki
Senior Portfolio Manager Kommunalkredit Austria and owner of BFE Group
BBA '03 (Business Administration)

"Immediately after my graduation I delved into my job at Erste Bank. I finished my trainee program in the treasury department there but due to prevailing economic situation I focused on the group controlling department., where I spent several years dealing with controlling of costs and international investment projects. Despite the great time at Erste Bank, I never lost fascination of financial markets and so by end of 2006 I decided to change my work and refocus at investment banking - this time in Kommunalkredit Austria, where I was responsible for investing bank’s own funds in emerging markets around the globe. There I witnessed the last months of a global financial joyride before I got to know the dark side of the financial markets – the crisis.
Coincidentally, during the heat of the crisis in 2008, I was finishing my Master degree, and decided to use the opportunity to research the consequences of the global crisis for Russian financial markets. At the end, I wrote a book on that topic, which was published in 2010. In January 2010 my son Alexander was born, and this is the highlight of the year so far. Currently, in addition to my position at Kommunalkredit Austria, I am involved in developing the family enterprise BFE Group in the Russian energy sector together with my wife Sonja."

Stefka Christodulova
Group HR Development & Recruiting, Erste Bank Group
MA '02 (Marketing)

"Coming from Bulgaria and having an American education with experience in American and international companies gave me a profile that greatly fit into the fast growing and internationally expanding Erste Bank - one of the leading financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe. I started working there five years ago in the CEE Coordination department of the Strategic Group Development Division dealing with mergers and acquisitions in CEE. I then moved to the Group HR Development and Recruiting where I mainly work with strategic alignment of HR Development activities like leadership development and talent management across Erste Bank Group. Like many international companies in the region, Erste Bank went through a dramatic growth process from a very small local company to a big regional player. This creates an environment of constant change. 
My international education in the U.S. and at Webster Vienna helps me enormously to deal successfully with these challenges and to build continuously on my international career."

Marion Demmer
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
MA '05 (International Relations)

Marion is currently working as a consultant for the Criminal Justice Reform Unit (CJRU) at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna. The Unit contributes towards the mandate of UNODC by assisting developing countries, countries emerging from conflict, and countries with economies in transition in building the capacity of their justice systems to operate more effectively within the framework of the rule of law and with particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as women and children.
Before joining the CJRU, she worked for the Contributions Unit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) where she analyzed problems encountered by the Secretariat in respect to payments by the Agency’s Member States. She also gathered a lot of her experience working for the Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)..

Ana Hrastovic
Assistant Minister of Finance in charge of international relations, Croatia
BA '05 (Business/Business Administration)

"I was enriched by the interaction with international professors and colleagues at Webster. Despite my original intention to work in private sector, the internship program at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) opened up a new world of international governmental organization to me, and actually changed my future. I returned to Croatia and joined the International Department of the Ministry of Finance. I soon received an opportunity to participate in challenging projects.
 
My professional achievements brought me to Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. Webster opened up the door to me, and my story is a confirmation that if you work hard, in a transparent manner and with respect for people, you can achieve any goal you wish to."

Anastasia Ioannidis
AOTE \"Ambassador of the Environment\"
Educational Consultant
BA '83 (History/Political Science)

"I have been growing up in different countries, and when looking for a university my choice fell on Webster. An American University in Austria was a real opportunity for me, to live in the heart of Europe and to profit from the Old and the New World at the same time. Webster’s rich academic program and highly qualified and devoted instructors have helped me discover and developed my skills within the educational field."

Jaihong Juhn
Film Director
BA '04 (Management/Marketing)

Jaihong returned to New York after finishing his degree at Webster Vienna to pursue his passion of movie making at the New York Film Academy. He produced his first short film ‘Colors’ bringing together two different cultures, the Austrian and the New York cultures. He collected the footage about the Austrian culture during his studies at Webster. ‘Colors’ was an official selection of the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival 2005 and was also shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Here he met famous Korean writer, director and producer Ki-duk Kim after which he returned to his birth place in Korea to work as his assistant director.
Juhn’s first feature film called ARUMDABDA (BEAUTIFUL) opened at the Berlin Film Festival, the Berlinale 08, with rave reviews. BEAUTIFUL is the story of a beautiful woman who is cursed with great beauty. Wherever she goes, she gets unwanted admiration from men and jealousy from women which results in her hatred of her appearance and her determination to destroy it.

Jubilee Jenna Mandl
General Manager Elevator Program, Hilton Prague, Hilton Prague Old Town
MBA '07

Jubilee started working for the Hilton Hotel in Austria in 2006 as the Assistant Director of Business Development and was promoted to MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Events) Sales Executive Manager in 2007. Then she was recommended to take part in the General Manager Fast Tracking Program called the "Hilton Elevator Program" with the aim to become a General Manager within 5 years. Invited to attend an Assessment Centre in May 2007 she was one of the lucky candidates of 12 from over 3,500 applicants that were accepted.

In September 2007 she moved to London and was in charge for the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel for 7 ½ months, specifically in the departments Business Development and Finance. In April 2008 she was promoted to the Hilton Prague and Hilton Prague Old Town with the main focus on Operations and Human Resources.

Mag. Stephan Maxonus
Director for private and institutional investors, Schoellerbank
MBA '05

"I always wanted to experience a truly American education. Webster University offered me the great chance to do this here in Vienna. I completed my MBA while I was working full time at Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) as Head of Office of the former Federal Chancellor of Austria, Dr. Franz Vranitzky. I have been able to apply some of the knowledge from the coursework directly to my job at the bank, and benefited a lot from the international environment at Webster Vienna."

Eva Petrič, MFA
Artist
BA '05 (Psychology/Art Minor)

“A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.” This quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the famous German poet and dramatist, could be used to describe Eva. Eva has been working hard on executing her talents. In April 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Vordemberge-Gildewart Award 2010 for her art photography. The multi-talented artist has been producing photography, painting, installation, and video as well as script writing for film and video. In addition to this Eva is also a gifted writer. In August 2010 she was nominated for the respected International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2011 with her first published book in English titled "They All Ate Sushi". Furthermore, she published a poetry book named “This Space is a Box” which is illustrated with her black and white art photographs.
Her visual art was presented at sixteen solo exhibitions (in Austria, USA and in Slovenia), at seventeen group exhibitions (eleven in Austria, two in Slovenia, one in Spain, two in Germany, two in USA -St. Louis, and New York City) and at five international contemporary art fairs (Prague, Czech Republic in 2007, Rome, Milano and Bolzano, Italy in 2008, Zurich, Switzerland 2008). Besides creating artwork, Eva also finds time for studying. In August 2010 she completed a Master in Fine Arts at the Transart Institute in Berlin.

Golnoosh Shahabi
Performance Management Specialist Group
HR/Competency & Performance Management
Department Erste Group Bank AG
MBA '05

"Webster University’s programs and its students/alumni have good reputations in international organizations and companies located in Austria. The fact that every Webster student experiences team work in an international environment in the classroom setting is very attractive for the employers. The University offers a variety of very interesting courses and majors. Additionally, the opportunity to pursue more than one major is advantageous because it increases the opportunity to find jobs in today’s competitive job market."

Karim Taga
Managing Director, Arthur D. Little Austria
MBA '93

"After completing my PhD in Chemistry, I wanted to do an MBA. Webster University offered me the chance to complete the program part time in the evenings and on weekends. The MBA prepared me for business life. I broadened my financial background and deepened my marketing knowledge. As a consultant, you need a broad outlook to support your clients and to develop a good working relationship. The Webster MBA also taught me how to work in teams efficiently and to prepare for presentations. In the international environment I met interesting people with whom I’m still in touch."

Philipp Tomio
Fulbright Scholarship, Elliot school of International affairs at George Washington University
BA '06 (International Relations)

"I chose Webster because of the uniquely international quality of its student body, faculty, and international relations program. Throughout the course of my undergraduate career, I have taken courses in many different subject areas relating to international relations, enriching my studies with seminar-style classes, policy simulations, case-related approaches, group presentations, and classic university lectures. In the final analysis, Webster's full-time and adjunct professors fuse a wealth of academic expertise with relevant, real-life, on-the-job experiences that significantly enriches one's academic program."
After graduating, Philipp received a Fulbright scholarship for graduate studies in the United States. In fall 2007, he started a two-year masters program in security policy studies with an emphasis in defense policy and defense program analysis at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Upon completion of his degree program in 2009, Philipp accepted a full-time research assistant position in strategic studies and defense policy analysis in the office of Gary Schmitt and the office of Tom Donnelly at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. At AEI, among other tasks, Philipp manages a long term research project that assesses the defense capabilities of U.S. allies and writes for AEI's Center for Defense Studies. Previously, he worked for the Austrian government in various capacities at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna.

Barbara Trionfi
Press Freedom Adviser, Asia Coordinator, International Press Institute
MA '05 (International Relations)

"The Master of Arts program at Webster has changed my life for the best: Thanks to my Masters in International Relations degree and the internship opportunity offered by Webster, I can now work in the field that I find most interesting and in which I believe in."

Matt Turner
Amherst Fund LLC, President CEO
MBA '03

"I choose Webster because of its global reach and access to education in many different campuses in countries around the world. Through Webster I studied at campuses in Vienna, Geneva, Shanghai, Cha-Am (Thailand), and Leiden (The Netherlands) as well as some online courses. Webster gave me the basic fundamentals through its MBA and MA Finance curriculum to practice confidently in the Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance field."