Student Profile: International Perspective

Liya Ma '12
Pre-SOM employment: Credit Suisse, New York
Summer Internship: J.P. Morgan, New York
Clubs: Food for Thought, Greater China Club, Real Estate Club

One of the reasons I chose Yale SOM was because of its international perspective and opportunities to travel and learn abroad, whether it’s the International Experience, Global Social Enterprise, or the student exchange programs.

Next semester I will be in Beijing, China, studying at the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management as part of the International Exchange program. I am from China originally, but came to the U.S. when I was 14. So even though I speak Mandarin and am familiar with the culture, I don’t have any business networks in China. As I look into my future, I know I want to work in an area involving business between China and the U.S., so getting this experience in Beijing and getting to know future business leaders in China will be invaluable.

Even on my International Experience trip to Ghana and Morocco, we learned about Chinese investments in Africa. The leader of the trip, Professor Zhiwu Chen, is an expert on the Chinese economy. He led discussions on our bus rides from company to company, and some were centered on the issues between China, Africa, and the U.S. I found it fascinating to be talking about Chinese investments in Africa in the context of global business.

Recently Yale University hosted a conference called Asia Tomorrow. Two of our SOM professors, Stephen Roach and Robert Shiller, were speakers. James Chanos, a hedge fund manager taking short positions in China, also spoke—he had a negative view on China, whereas some other panelists were very bullish on China. They had quite a few lively panels and discussions on China as well as the rest of Asia and its importance in global business in the next decade.

To build on my previous experiences, I wanted to do an internship at a top bank with international reach, and this summer I’m going to be working in consumer and retail investment banking at J.P. Morgan. Consumer and retail industries are very global, with a lot of cross-border transactions as companies look to expand into emerging markets, and I am excited for this opportunity and where it will take me in the future.

Interviewed on April 13, 2011.