2026 Best & Brightest Business Major: Joshua Elkin, Wisconsin School of Business

by: Jeff Schmitt on April 03, 2026 | 9 minute read

Joshua Elkin

University of Wisconsin School of Business

“Ambitious and motivated friend cycling through countless forms of caffeine.”

Fun fact about yourself: I can read Russian, but I don’t understand any of it.

Hometown: Delafield, WI

High School: High School of Health Sciences

Major: Supply Chain Management, Operations and Technology Management, Environmental Studies

Minor: Consulting, Sustainability

Favorite Business Course: MHR 310: Challenges and Solutions in Business Sustainability

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Extracurriculars & Leadership

  • Ethical & Responsible Business Network: President (Fall 2025 – Spring 2026), VP Consulting (Fall 2024), VP Marketing (Spring 2024), VP Communications (Fall 2023), Consulting Project Lead (Fall 2023 – Spring 2024), Consulting Team Analyst (Spring 2023)
  • Wisconsin Consulting Club: VP Internal Development (Fall 2025 – Spring 2026), VP Communications (Spring 2024 – Fall 2024)
  • Wisconsin Invitational Consulting Case Competition Writing Committee (Spring 2026)
  • Leadership Program Intern (Spring 2026)
  • General Business 110 Course Facilitator (Fall 2024, Fall 2025)
  • Dean of Students Advisory Board Committee Member (Fall 2023 – Spring 2024)
  • Badger Volunteers – Wisconsin Environmental Initiative (Spring 2023)
  • Associated Students of Madison Student Intern (Fall 2022)

Awards

  • Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management Scholarship (Fall 2025)
  • Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management Fellow (Fall 2024)
  • Jones Center Authentic Leader Award (Fall 2024)
  • William Vilas Scholarship (Fall 2023, Fall 2024)
  • W. Grainger Case Competition 3rd Place (Spring 2024)
  • Nathan Brand Family in Business Scholarship (Fall 2022 – Spring 2026)
  • Molson Coors Scholarship (Fall 2022 – Spring 2026)
  • Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship (Fall 2022 – Spring 2026)

Where have you interned during your college career?

  • Efficio Consulting – Chicago, IL – Business Analyst Intern
  • Whirlpool Corporation – Benton Harbor, MI – Global Supply Chain Intern
  • ORBIS Corporation – Oconomowoc, WI – Customer Support Project Management Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? McKinsey & Company – Chicago, IL – Product Development & Procurement Fellow

Who is your favorite business professor? During the fall of my sophomore year, I took Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management with Verda Blythe, and she instantly became my favorite professor. I barely understood what a supply chain consisted of, and I was eager to learn more. Verda came with a wealth of experience, and she taught with passion and a desire to see us succeed. However, she also recognized that supply chain is difficult to understand without understanding its application. Accordingly, the last several weeks consisted of a group simulation, allowing for tangible learning rather than textbook memorization. The following semester, I had the privilege of going on a spring break study abroad program she organized; I traveled to Europe for the first time and explored the German automotive supply chain. This trip is among my most cherished experiences throughout college, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the amount of effort she put into coordinating this program.

Since my sophomore year, Verda has remained a positive light. Every time I see her, she smiles ear-to-ear, asks me how I’m doing, and remembers the minute details from our previous conversations. She’s dedicated to helping her students, even spending her weekend to chaperone a case competition in Arizona. I always know I have a cheerleader in Verda, and I am grateful that I met such an amazing professor so early in my undergraduate career.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of career pathways with trajectories that seemed clear: you go to school, earn an advanced degree, and enter the workforce. After studying business, it became abundantly clear that I was not confined to a specific pathway. There is freedom to explore different industries, move into different functions, and completely redefine your path. In one of my student organizations – Ethical & Responsible Business Network – we invite guest speakers to share their journeys in corporate sustainability. Every story was unique, but they often possessed a common trait: their path to success was far from conventional. Even though certain jobs, majors, or even extracurriculars appear to be “hacks”, that could not be further from the truth. What may have worked twenty years ago will not lead to predictable success, and the job that truly fulfills you may not even exist for another twenty years. It would be foolish to expect that one step will naturally lead to another, and it’s important to balance ambition with staying open-minded.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Stay curious, and do not limit yourself early on. It is easy to develop tunnel vision, specialize in one career pathway, and stay blind to the other options available. While many competitive industries recruit as early as sophomore year, college is the time to discover where your strengths and interests intersect. I originally entered my freshman year declared as a Real Estate major. Despite this, I took time to explore my interests, and I contemplated everything from Accounting to Information Systems to Risk Management. As students, we are at the very beginning of our careers, and the majors we select don’t lock us into a single career trajectory. In the long run, it is hard work, ambition, and strong relationships that matter far more.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? As early as my sophomore year, I have been encouraged by professors to leverage AI as a study tool. While preparing for exams, I’ve used LLMs such as ChatGPT to upload my lecture notes, simplify core concepts to me that remain unclear, and to generate practice problems in preparation for exams. As I’ve gained comfort with these LLMs, I’ve seen how AI can be a powerful partner in thought. I’ve also remained mindful that generative AI needs to be a supplement rather than a substitute for learning. AI has been effective in helping me dissect complex ideas, but I am intentional to strike a balance where AI amplifies rather than replaces critical thinking skills.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I am most proud of the relationships I’ve cultivated with new members in the Wisconsin Consulting Club (WCC). When I joined as a sophomore, WCC was the first place I felt a sense of belonging on campus. The organization introduced me to a supportive network of students all eager to enter consulting. I largely attribute my full-time offer to the mentorship and support I received from my peers in WCC, and they truly shaped my college experience. This year, I have been eager to give back to this community that has given me so much. I serve as our VP of Internal Development, where I help our new members navigate the essentials of case interviewing and consulting recruitment. However, I also strive to integrate our new members into the culture of the organization and to make them feel that similar sense of belonging. I smile every time I see one of them meeting someone at a club social, studying in the library, or just walking through the halls of our business school. I am so excited to see them flourish professionally, and I hope they experience a similar sense of belonging within WCC.

Which classmate do you most admire? I am fortunate to be surrounded by countless motivated, intelligent, and kind peers at the University of Wisconsin. That said, the classmate whom I admire most is Mantas Kudzin. Mantas and I met during our sophomore year, and we have since served together on the executive board of the Ethical & Responsible Business Network (ERBN). Mantas’s passion for sustainability is abundantly clear when you first meet him; within ERBN, he developed a new position to oversee professional development, where he organized a networking night with sustainable business leaders, a career trek to Chicago, and internal recruiting workshops.

Ultimately, Mantas ensures his peers have every tool at their disposal to develop as sustainable business leaders. This passion is surpassed only by unadulterated kindness. Mantas is a genuine friend and has the strongest moral compass of anybody I know. He is constantly looking out for others, ensures every space he enters is inclusive, and he always goes the extra mile to make somebody else’s day. Mantas radiates positivity, and I am incredibly privileged to call him both a classmate and a friend.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I would most like to thank my grandparents. All four of them had a horrific childhood: they grew up as children during the Holocaust and were forced to hide from the Nazis. After World War II, they continued facing persecution as Jews in the former Soviet Union. By the early 1980s, they sacrificed their livelihoods and came to the United States to provide my parents with a better life. They knew little English, had no money, and arrived with nothing but a vision. My grandfather, a former physics professor, first worked as a night janitor upon arriving in Minneapolis. For him, it was a simple choice: he knew he would do anything to ensure his family could get by. My grandparents worked tirelessly, and they paved the way for every opportunity that has since come my way. I credit my success to their courage, selflessness, and love.

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

  • Develop a specialty within sustainable procurement & product development
  • Serve as a mentor to somebody who becomes more successful than me

What made Josh Elkin such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Josh Elkin is an exceptional student and a charismatic, community-minded leader who energizes everyone around him. I’m proud that he’s a Badger.

Josh took two courses with me and consistently performed at the very top of his cohort of 1,000 undergraduate business students. He prepared thoroughly, engaged fully, and always pushed for next-level understanding. During group activities, he kept his peers focused on learning goals and fostered inclusive, effective collaboration — a natural leader.

Outside the classroom, Josh leads the Ethical and Responsible Business Network (ERBN), a student organization I advise that hosts speaker events and consulting projects with partners pursuing sustainability goals. Josh’s leadership propelled ERBN forward through expanded membership, new funding, higher visibility, and life-changing professional development pathways for students. Students love Josh’s guidance and galvanizing energy, to the point where I’ve seen them cheer Josh into the room when he arrives.

It doesn’t get any brighter than Josh Elkin!”

Michael T. Hernke
Teaching Professor
Operations and Information Management
Wisconsin School of Business
University of Wisconsin Madison

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