David Allen

University of Miami, Herbert Business School

 “Coffee lover obsessed with dynamic Excel spreadsheets and historical strategy games.”

Fun fact about yourself: I spent my freshman summer abroad working for a startup in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Hometown: Miami, Florida

High School: Western High School

Major: Economics

Minor: Finance

Favorite Business Course: Game Theory in Economic Applications (ECO 444)

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Awards & Honors:

• Foote Fellow Honors Program
• Presidential Scholar (Merit Scholarship)
• 1st Place 2023 McKinsey x TAMID Case Competition
• Bermont-Carlin Scholar
• Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society
• President’s & Provost’s Honor Roll & Dean’s List

Activities & Leadership:

• President of TAMID Group at the University of Miami
• Professional Development Student Leader (PDSL)
• Target Canes Club Mentor & Former Member
• 2022 TAMID Group Summer Fellow
• Former Vice President of the Canes Finance Association
• Former Undergraduate Dean’s Advisory Board Member

Community Work:

• Volunteer Coach for High School Speech & Debate

Where have you interned during your college career?

• BlackRock, Financial Markets Advisory Summer Analyst (2023, New York, NY)
• SeeCares, Commercial Real Estate Underwriting Intern (2022, Tel Aviv, Israel)
• RAIsonance Group, Business Development Intern (2022, Remote)

Where will you be working after graduation? BlackRock as an Analyst in their Financial Markets Advisory Group in New York City.

Who is your favorite business professor? Professor Mark Shapiro. He has been an invaluable source of support, encouragement, and advice throughout my time at the University of Miami. I struggle to think of anyone at UM who has done more to build up the Miami Herbert student community and professional network, both inside and outside the classroom, than Professor Shapiro. It has been a true privilege to have him as a professor and a mentor, and I can say with confidence that I would not be where I am or have achieved what I have achieved if not for the role he played in my undergraduate journey.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? The importance of surrounding yourself with people who push you to be better, both in your professional and personal life. Joining student organizations like TAMID and participating in extracurricular programs like Bermont-Carlin had a profound impact on my undergraduate experience. It was not just because of the professional network they provided, but also because of the close friendships I made with other ambitious business students as a result. Having upperclassmen who I could reach out to for mentorship and friends I could rely on for support and encouragement proved indispensable for me as I journeyed through the finance recruitment process.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? With graduation seemingly around the corner, there is part of me that wishes I had more room in my schedule to take additional classes in social sciences other than economics. As I have gotten more exposure to higher level economics and finance course work, I have started to appreciate the societal aspect of these subjects more and more. With all the number crunching and Excel spreadsheets associated with careers in finance, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the economy and financial system are really products of human behavior, interaction, and organization.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? Being president of TAMID at Miami, a student-run consulting and finance club we have on campus. Public speaking and outgoingness did not come naturally to me. In fact, I had a speech impediment when I was younger and, even after overcoming it through speech therapy, it took a lot to get over the shyness and self-consciousness it left behind. At some point during high school, I began to focus on intentionally participating in programs and events that took me out of my comfort zone, and joining TAMID during my freshman year of college certainly did that and more. It was also a fantastic opportunity to make friends and develop a network of like-minded peers while gaining professional experience consulting actual clients in the form of Israeli startups. Becoming president was a tremendous vote of confidence in the work I had done in TAMID over the years and serves as a personal milestone for how far I have come since my anxiety-riddled days in speech therapy.

Which classmate do you most admire? Although he graduated last year, Alec Zorrilla, who was actually one of the first people I met at the University of Miami, has probably had the greatest impact on me of any student I have met at UM and remains a good friend of mine to this day. A true mentor figure, Alec helped me find my way as I navigated through the internship recruitment process while staying on course to graduate a year early (something he also achieved with enormous success before me). Alec was my predecessor as chapter president of TAMID, a friend I could rely on for advice and support, and an exceptionally hard-working and intelligent business student in his own right.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I could never overstate the level of love and care my mother has given me, prior to and throughout my time in college. My mother—who immigrated to America – was the first person in her family to graduate college, and completed her PhD while raising me and my sister. She instilled in me the importance of higher education, continual learning, and hard work, and I would be remiss if I did not thank her for all she has given me and my siblings.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. I would love the chance to spend some more time working in a foreign country. After interning for a summer in Israel, I came to appreciate the cultural immersion that comes from living and working in another country rather than visiting as a tourist.

2. Being a guest lecturer or teaching as an adjunct at a university in my later years. After gaining much more professional experience in the financial system, it would be a fantastic opportunity to give back to a new generation of business students.

What made David such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“David is one of the most analytical and inquisitive students I have taught at the University of Miami. Having him in class required me to always be at the top of my game, knowing that at any moment, he could ask the perfectly created question to challenge some predicate assumption or defect in logic in what I had just said or he could see an issue in a way that opened completely new doors to the analysis of the topic at hand.”

Mark Shapiro
Professor of Professional Practice, Business Law Department
Associate Dean, Career Preparedness
Miami Herbert Business School

DON’T MISS: 100 BEST & BRIGHTEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS MAJORS OF 2024