Chad Burks

Binghamton University School of Management

“An energetic connector who seeks to brighten a room with his smile and empathy.”

Fun fact about yourself: I was born in Texas and moved to New York when I was 11 years old.

Hometown: Clifton Park, New York

High School: Shenendehowa High School

Major: Business Administration Honors, Concentrations in Management Information Systems and Marketing

Minor: Education

Favorite Business Course: Lead 280A – Introduction to Transformational Leadership

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Leadership Positions:

Education Minor Steering Committee – Board Member (November 2024 – Present)
School of Management Career Services – Senior (Lead) Career Assistant (August 2024 – Present)
School of Management Career Services – Career Assistant (January 2023 – Present)
Management Consulting Group – Senior Advisor (May 2024 – Present)
PwC Scholars Program – Internal Vice President (May 2023 – May 2024)
Management 111 Mentor Program Coordinator (May 2023 – May 2024)
Management Consulting Group | 180 Degrees Consulting – Client Lead & 180 Degrees Consulting Committee Member (May 2022 – May 2024)
Systems Analysis & Specification (MIS 323) – Teaching Assistant (January 2024 – May 2024)
Transformational Leaders Program – President (January 2023 – December 2023)
Management Consulting Group – Executive Board Intern (December 2021 – May 2022)

Mentorship Positions:

Dean’s Mentoring Program Mentor (January 2024 – Present)
PwC Scholars Program Mentor (September 2023 – Present)
Management 111 Mentor (May 2023 – Present)
Transformational Leaders Program Mentor (January 2023 – Present)
Consulting Development Program Mentor (January 2023 – May 2024)

Awards:

Dean’s List (All Semesters)
Dean’s Scholarship (August 2022 – Present)
Transformational Leaders Program Scholarships (August 2022 – Present)
Transformational Leaders Program – Transformational Leader of the Year (2022 – 2023 School Year)
J-Core Mazda Live Case Competition – 1st Place Winner out of 34 Teams (March 2023 – April 2023)
PwC Scholars Program Data Visualization Sophomore Case – 1st Place Winner out of 9 Teams (March 2023)
Dean’s Mentoring Program Case Competition – 1st Place Winner out of 5 Teams (February 2022 – April 2022)
Consulting Development Program Capstone Case Competition – 1st Place Winner out of 4 Teams (February 2022 – April 2022)
Dean’s Case Competition – 1st Place Winner out of 90 Teams (August 2021 – September 2021)

Where have you interned during your college career?

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Boston, Consulting Advance Intern – Cyber Risk & Regulatory, Enterprise Technology Solutions – Oracle (June 2024 – August 2024)
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Boston, Consulting Start Intern (June 2023 – July 2023)

Where will you be working after graduation? Following graduation, I will be working at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Boston as an Associate in their Cyber Risk & Regulatory Consulting Practice, specifically in the Enterprise Technology Solutions team specializing in the Oracle Platform.

Who is your favorite business professor? My favorite business professor is Associate Dean George Bobinski. My first 1-on-1 interaction with Dean Bobinski was facilitated through the Dean’s Mentoring Program during the spring semester of my freshman year, when I had a 45-minute conversation with him. Through that first conversation with Dean Bobinski, he taught me a lot about ways I could bolster my resume while standing out in the internship/job process. His advice on how to differentiate myself left me extremely motivated to get involved in the School of Management community throughout the remainder of my time in school. This offered me numerous opportunities to give back and mentor others the same way that Dean Bobinski has served as a mentor to me. His attention to detail, high-level knowledge of all business fields, and desire to see students succeed are all reasons why Dean Bobinski is my favorite business professor.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? Building and cultivating relationships over time is just as important, if not more so, than the technical aspects of business. Employers desire candidates who are capable from a technical perspective in their field. More importantly, they want someone who they can see themselves effectively connecting with and working alongside on a daily basis. I have learned this lesson from faculty members and mentors, and one thing I have noticed is how important it is to be intentional about the relationships that I build. As a result, I have always worked to connect with other like-minded individuals through business classes and student organizations who strive for great things and hold themselves to a high standard similar to the one that I hold myself to. I believe that this lesson from studying business has allowed me to develop into who I am today, specifically as someone who others enjoy being around and want to work with.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? The first would be to challenge yourself to become comfortable in situations that you may view as outside of your comfort zone. When I first arrived at Binghamton, I was hesitant to join student organizations or go to general interest meetings because I wasn’t sure if I would be a good fit. That was until I took the time to reflect. I had the realization that my ultimate goal at Binghamton was to grow and try new things, and prioritizing being comfortable over growth was not going to help me reach my goals.

The truth is that growth and being comfortable often cannot coexist. I realized that the only fear I had was not putting myself in a position to do the things I needed to in order to reach what I imagined to be my full potential. From there, I finally started challenging myself to get extremely involved and meet others on campus. Doing this has paid tremendous dividends in helping me achieve things that I previously couldn’t have imagined to be possible.

This leads to my second piece of advice: find your mentors. Whether it’s upperclassmen, alumni, or faculty, find people who will challenge you to be at your best every day. I’m extremely grateful for all the mentors, who have played a role in challenging me to be at my best and helping me develop into who I am today. I am now someone who is a mentor to many students. My guiding message is to view success as an indication that you are on the right path while looking at setbacks as an opportunity to strengthen your mindset and learn lessons to make you stronger in the future.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? One thing I would do differently would be to utilize LinkedIn more frequently during my first year. I have realized how powerful LinkedIn can be for connecting with others, whether that’s peers at other universities or professionals in the business field. It’s also a powerful tool for learning and sharing unique personal experiences with others in your network.

I am proud of the expansive network of students and professionals that I have built on LinkedIn. Looking back on my first year of school, I wish I had realized that LinkedIn was a powerful platform that has since allowed me to connect and learn from individuals that I otherwise would have never met. I would have started using it immediately once I got to business school. Doing so would have likely eased my transition to college while helping me discover my professional interests and build confidence sooner. I can see myself making LinkedIn posts designed to inspire business students who are getting acclimated to college and trying to discover what they’re passionate about, both academically and professionally.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? As AI has grown to be more popular over the last few years, I have seen its integration through my role as a Career Assistant for the School of Management Career Services office. In this role, I have had the opportunity to guide students through offering resume critiques, mock interviews, and cover letter assistance (in addition to personalized career advice). There may be times that we encourage a student to use AI to help them craft a resume bullet, or to formulate some questions that may be asked during an upcoming interview.

I always make it known to students that they should use AI as a tool to assist, rather than doing the work completely for them. I might recommend a student use AI to create a framework for a strong resume bullet point. However, I’ll also encourage them to personalize that framework so it has authenticity and properly showcases the student’s experiences and accomplishments. The same goes for interview prep, in the sense that you can use it to help you think of certain behavioral questions that may be asked depending on the job description. However, I encourage students to practice all types of interview questions and to have their own unique responses (which I don’t recommend being generated by AI) to questions.

One insight I have gained from using AI is the extent to which it can improve my efficiency and productivity. I’m encouraged by PwC’s large financial and operational commitment to integrating their own unique AI capabilities into the firm. I’m looking forward to experimenting with it further once I join the firm full-time, and I’m encouraged by the benefits I have heard about regarding these AI capabilities from the professionals that I have spoken with at the firm.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I’m most proud of my role as the coordinator of the Management 111 mentoring program. In this role, I had the privilege of overseeing over 550 students first-year and transfer School of Management (SOM) students during my junior year. I had the responsibility of assigning each student to one of the 50+ high-achieving upperclassmen mentors whom I recruited. The mentors would meet with their mentees weekly to cover the detailed curriculum that I created, focusing on topics relating to professional and personal development.

Throughout the semester, I would track the progress of each mentor group and individual mentee, offering support whenever needed. I’m extremely proud of this experience for a couple of reasons. First, it showed me that anything is possible, especially when I have a passion for it. Mentorship is something that I have always been passionate about. This is due to those who invested their time and saw high levels of potential in me when I was a first-year student. Although this experience required me to invest a lot of time and dedication, I’m truly grateful because it allowed me to give back to the SOM community. My goal with the mentorship program was to facilitate an experience that would uplift and inspire the new cohort of SOM students to one day give back as mentors when they are in a position to do so.

The other reason I’m proud of this extracurricular achievement is how unique this peer-to-peer mentorship model is, especially considering the number of students involved in the program. The Management 111 mentoring program is unique to Binghamton and cannot be easily replicated. I’m extremely proud to have worked alongside Associate Dean George Bobinski to shape a mentorship experience that equipped over 550 first-year and transfer students with the professional and personal skills needed to become future business leaders.

Which classmate do you most admire? The classmate I admire most is Victoria (Tori) Rolih. She has been one of my closest peers and best friends ever since we participated in the Dean’s Mentoring Program and Consulting Development Program together as first-year students. Additionally, through serving on the Management Consulting Group executive board and daily interactions with Tori, I can confidently say that I admire her commitment to giving back to others. She does this while helping them develop professionally and personally, a core competency that she and I share. Tori is heavily involved on campus. Her role as Co-President of the Dean’s Mentoring Program speaks to her true values of giving back to a program that has helped us develop and find our niche as first-year students. The aspect I admire most about Tori is her kindness toward those she interacts with. She has always been encouraging and believed in me for any academic, personal, and professional endeavor that I wanted to pursue. I greatly appreciate her for these reasons.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I would like to thank my dad for my success. I have learned that different people’s belief in me may come and go. What is truly special are those who have always believed in me and stuck by my side regardless of the circumstances. My dad has always been that person in my life, and I am extremely grateful for the continuous belief and faith he has had in me. One of the most powerful lessons he has taught me is that there is no such thing as “can’t” in life. Instead, he has always encouraged me that I can achieve anything I set my mind to doing. Through his actions and support, I have also learned the value of determination and relentless pursuit of things that matter most to me. I have always admired his selfless attitude as well as his work ethic. I’m thankful that I have someone like my dad in my life, who has taught me the value of hard work and helped me to develop into someone I can be proud of being.

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

1. Consult or work for a professional sports organization. Sports have always been a huge passion of mine, whether it’s playing or watching them. As someone who will be working in consulting after graduation, it would be a dream to do consulting work for a professional sports team or have some level of involvement in one. I have always admired the talent and commitment of athletes at all levels. I believe that my ability to connect with and relate to others would help me understand the mentality of each individual athlete, ultimately allowing me to help get the best out of them as they work to reach their full potential.

2. Start a foundation or serve as a mentor for children who face adversity or barriers to pursuing higher education in general. I’m largely inspired to one day achieve this goal due to my time as President of the nationally-recognized Binghamton University Transformational Leaders Program. This program is comprised of students who have overcome adversity or face barriers to being in higher education. During this experience, I witnessed the impact that can be made on a student the moment they realize their potential and are equipped with the resources needed to pursue their dreams. As someone who is also an education minor, I’m invested in and enjoy working with kids. Therefore, if I could one day be in a position to give back or serve as a mentor to children – especially those who may not have had the most fortunate childhood – I would feel extremely blessed and eager to do so.

What made Chad such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Chad Burks’ contributions to the School of Management have been truly outstanding. As a Senior Career Assistant in the Career Services Office, he has consistently demonstrated initiative, problem-solving skills, and a deep commitment to student success. From the moment he joined our team, his passion for mentorship and professional development was evident, making him an invaluable asset to both our office and the students he serves. His dedication and leadership quickly earned him a well-deserved promotion, and he continues to elevate our office by spearheading initiatives, streamlining processes, and implementing lasting improvements.

Beyond his work in Career Services, Chad has taken on multiple leadership roles across campus, further showcasing his dedication to empowering others. He has served as President of the Transformational Leaders Program, Internal Vice President of the PwC Scholars Program, and a Committee Member and Client Lead for 180 Degrees Consulting, among other positions. Through these roles, Chad has not only provided guidance and support to his peers but has also fostered a welcoming and inclusive environment for students navigating their professional journeys.

Chad’s unwavering dedication, leadership, and impact on the School of Management community make him truly deserving of this recognition. With his drive and passion for service, there is no doubt that he will continue to excel and leave a lasting mark in his future endeavors.”

Matthew Fedorchak
Student & Employer Relations Coordinator, Career Services
Binghamton University School of Management

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