With over seven years of professional experience, including a one-year stint as Chief Financial Officer of a filtration company in China, Peter brought plenty of finance know-how and business savvy to the Illinois MBA when he enrolled in the fall of 2006. Since then, he has continued to improve himself – becoming Vice President of the Graduate Finance Association of the Illinois MBA, contributing as a student member of the CFA Society of Chicago, and passing the CFA Level 1 exam in 2006.

Peter’s broad background has not only equipped him with technical proficiency, but has also built and refined skills as an entrepreneur and manager.  While at Changchun Taxation College, he was the founder and marketing manager of a student-run photo service business that made a 125% return on investment.  After graduation, he spent five out of the next seven years as a controller and finance/accounting manager with Siemens China.

Attaining an MBA degree was the next logical step for Peter: “On the way to my next career level, an MBA is one of the challenges that I had to take. Through the MBA, I can put together what I have learned from my past experience with academic study, and apply it to real businesses.”  Peter had the opportunity to employ this strategy this past summer as an intern at Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client Group in Schaumburg, IL. The internship was a perfect fit for his goals – giving him a chance to utilize his MBA education as well as preparing him further for a career in finance.

Now, as a second-year MBA student, Peter is looking forward to more challenges. While he does have his own career aspirations, Peter also realizes there is more to success than simply landing a great job. As he so aptly and refreshingly puts it, “My career goal is not a title. I want to be a respectable man. After retirement, I want to receive the following comments from my peers: honest, fair, and respectable.”