A creator-turned-entrepreneur, a cryptocurrency investigator and a longtime music educator are among the 291 students beginning graduate business programs at Poole College of Management this fall.
Each new academic year brings fresh perspectives to Poole College of Management. This fall’s incoming graduate business students arrive with experience spanning technology, education, accounting, marketing, financial services, the military and more—along with ambitions to lead organizations, launch new ventures and make an impact in their fields.
Meet six students beginning the next stage of their journeys at NC State.
51 New Full-Time MBA Students
80 New Online MBA Students
90 New On-Campus MAC Students
32 New Online MAC Students
17 New Marketing Analytics Students
21 New Risk and Analytics Students
Alycea Adams – Full-Time MBA
For Alycea Adams of Charlotte, North Carolina, creativity, technology and entrepreneurship have long gone hand in hand. After earning a bachelor’s degree in information science from UNC-Chapel Hill, with minors in entrepreneurship and urban studies and planning, she built experience in content creation, brand strategy and early-stage technology. In 2024, she co-founded HairMatch, an AI beauty-tech startup that became a 2025 Microsoft Imagine Cup finalist.
Adams chose the NC State MBA to broaden her understanding of business and strengthen the strategic and leadership skills she will need to create meaningful brand impact. She was drawn to the program’s entrepreneurial spirit, interdisciplinary curriculum and location in the Research Triangle, as well as an admissions experience that made her “feel like a person and not a number.”
Following graduation, Adams plans to continue her entrepreneurial work while building a career in marketing that could eventually lead to a chief marketing role. Her creative interests extend beyond business: She recently published her first children’s book, My Hair Is My Superpower, which encourages young girls to embrace their natural hair. She also cheered professionally for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2025–26 NBA season and enjoys running, cooking and calligraphy.
Meredith Mormann – Online MBA
After 10 years as a middle and high school choir director, Raleigh native Meredith Mormann is ready to explore a new professional direction. A graduate of UNC Greensboro, where she studied choral music education, Mormann has spent her career teaching in North Carolina and Florida and creating communities through music.
She is pursuing her Online MBA to discover new ways to serve her community and contribute to future teams. Having grown up in Raleigh, she saw NC State as a natural place to make that transition and was drawn to its community of established and emerging business leaders.
Through the program, Mormann hopes to sharpen her leadership skills, build a strong professional network and clarify the next stage of her career. She is particularly interested in leading a nonprofit organization, working in human resources or pursuing another role where she can shape team culture. Outside of work and school, Mormann is an active classical and choral performer, is nearly fluent in Italian and is the parent of a fifth grader.
Connor Langley – On-Campus MAC
Connor Langley’s accounting education at NC State has already taken him from the baseball diamond to the technology sector and public accounting. The Cary, North Carolina, native spent three seasons as a reporting analyst for NC State Baseball, developing scouting reports on opposing teams. He also completed two internships at Red Hat focused on deal management and sales analytics before joining RSM as an assurance intern in its Raleigh office.
Now, Langley is continuing at NC State through the Master of Accounting program. He hopes to deepen his technical accounting knowledge, prepare for the CPA exam and gain the skills and connections needed to begin a successful career in public accounting.
After graduation, Langley plans to work in audit. His connection to NC State extends well beyond his education: He is a fourth-generation NC State student and enjoys attending Wolfpack football and basketball games when he isn’t playing golf.
Chris Cornett – Online MAC
U.S. Navy veteran Chris Cornett brings more than 25 years of experience in operations management, financial management and accounting to the Master of Accounting program. The Hillsborough, North Carolina, native has led teams and managed complex business operations across multiple industries and currently serves as a leader for a currency technology company. He is also an entrepreneur who owns two veteran-owned businesses.
Already an NC State MBA alumnus, Cornett returned to NC State to deepen his technical expertise in tax and client advisory services. He hopes to combine advanced accounting knowledge with his extensive operations experience to help small businesses — particularly veteran-owned businesses — navigate tax, financial and accounting challenges while improving their processes and performance.
Following graduation, Cornett plans to work in client advisory services, helping businesses strengthen their systems, develop effective tax strategies and make better financial decisions. Now living in Clemmons, North Carolina, Cornett enjoys spending time with his wife and four children, as well as hiking, boating and fishing.
Ashleigh Jackson – Master of Management, Marketing Analytics
Ashleigh Jackson has built her career around finding better ways to turn marketing data into meaningful stories and strategies. The Indian Trail, North Carolina, native studied journalism and mass communications at North Carolina A&T State University, concentrating in public relations and minoring in marketing. After completing internships with 3M and TikTok, she joined 3M as a global social media analyst and later moved to Lowe’s, where she is now an assistant marketing manager specializing in paid social.
Jackson chose NC State’s Master of Management, Marketing Analytics program to deepen her analytical abilities and become even more effective at using data to guide marketing decisions. She was particularly drawn to the faculty’s varied marketing expertise, the program’s emphasis on artificial intelligence and the opportunity to pursue the Business AI Certificate.
In addition to sharpening her skills and building a network of marketing professionals, Jackson hopes the program will move her closer to a future career in higher education. She plans to pursue an MBA at NC State and eventually earn a Ph.D. in marketing or marketing analytics, with the goal of becoming an impactful professor. A first-generation college graduate, Jackson is also a Pilates instructor and avid traveler who has visited five continents and three of the world’s seven wonders.
Brach Gordon – Master of Management, Risk and Analytics
Brach Gordon of Clayton, North Carolina, has spent more than a decade following illicit money across digital networks. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2014 and served for eight years as a digital network analyst, beginning his work tracing cryptocurrency well before it became a prominent financial-crime concern. After serving at U.S. Cyber Command, he continued there as a civilian analyst before moving to PayPal in 2024.
Today, Gordon serves as PayPal’s head of cryptocurrency investigations, leading the team that monitors the company’s stablecoin and partnering with law enforcement on cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering cases. That experience showed him the importance of making risk decisions that business leaders can understand and act upon.
“Saying ‘this looks bad’ only gets you so far in that conversation,” Gordon says. “Being able to quantify it changes the room.”
Gordon chose the Master of Management, Risk and Analytics program to strengthen the analytical side of his work and expand his perspective beyond financial crime. “I’ve spent my career finding the problem,” he says. “This degree is about being able to prove it and price it.”
His connection to NC State also runs deep: Gordon was named after a character in a play his parents saw on campus. Away from work and school, he keeps bees, gardens, restores cast-iron pans, smokes meat and plays hockey. He also enjoys spending time with his wife and their two daughters.
