Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez give $10M to establish the Integrated Business and Engineering program

Childhood sweethearts Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez donated $10 million to name the University of Arizona’s latest bachelor’s degree program, which combines engineering expertise with business leadership skills to prepare students for industry.

“Education has always held a special place in our family’s story; our mothers met through education,” Mary said at the Sept. 1 naming ceremony. “Felipe’s mother came from Nicaragua and was my mother’s roommate in college.”

“Our mothers made a pinky promise to marry us, and it happened,” Felipe laughed.

University leaders, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, the Rodriguezes and the program’s inaugural cohort of 21 students celebrated the naming at the Applied Research Building.

"Their investment will strengthen the only undergraduate program of its kind in the state, equipping Wildcats with the skills they need to step confidently into and grow throughout their careers,” said Suresh Garimella, U of A President and Distinguished Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.

Student club inspires gift

David W. Hahn, former Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering, and Felipe dropped in on the BAJA Wildcat Racing Club some years ago during the Rodriguezes’ visit to see their son, who was attending the Eller College of Management. Hahn and Felipe found engineering students huddled around a car they had designed and built for the national BAJA SAE racing competition – discussing ways to make it faster and more reliable.

“This was the moment the idea began,” Felipe said. “I bet this university would take on my passion and one day create a multidisciplinary degree like engineering and business.”

His dream became reality this year. The Mary and Felipe M. Rodriguez Integrated Business and Engineering program – a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the Eller College of Management – meets a growing demand for graduates who can take ideas all the way to market.

“A great engineering idea usually fails because you don’t have a business case right behind it,” said Felipe, founder and CEO of Aeronautical Systems Inc. “Similarly, you can have a fantastic business idea, and yet you don’t have the technical backbone to make it happen.”

Mary joined ASI in 1993 after years teaching in London and California. She leads the company's charitable giving program, which supports STEM education initiatives. The couple have focused their philanthropy on helping universities expand engineering and technical science programs to close workforce gaps.

“Everybody has a different job when you’re trying to make the impossible possible,” said Sen. Kelly, who served as a U.S. Navy combat pilot and flew four space shuttle missions. “When you’re trying to land a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier or send a crew into space, you need engineers, but … you also need people who understand budgets, schedules, logistics, financing and how to lead.”

Growing a multidisciplinary workforce

Gov. Hobbs stressed that the program is key to Arizona’s economic growth, particularly the semiconductor industry.

“If we want to keep winning on the global stage, we must continue investing in programs like this that are building our world-class workforce,” said Hobbs. “You are the leaders who will keep Arizona competitive for the next 50 years.”

Students learn from top faculty, advisers and mentors in both colleges. Courses combine an engineering foundation with strong business, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, emphasizing real-life, hands-on learning with industry partners.

“I always had that engineering and entrepreneurial mindset, so coming into the college I knew I wanted to do both,” said IBE inaugural student Landen Kovalesky, a Phoenix native who started a car detailing business as a high schooler and tinkered with computers in his free time.

The deans of the two colleges stressed career readiness as one of the degree’s greatest values.

Kimberly L. Ogden, Craig M. Berge Interim Dean of the college, said the College of Engineering and Eller College of Management share similar educational missions.

“We make students that go right into industry,” she said.

Likewise, said Karthik Kannan, dean of the Eller College of Management who holds the Halle Chair in Leadership, "This program reflects the very best of both colleges. It will provide uniquely qualified graduates ready to make an immediate impact in their chosen industry."

Graduates with dual skill sets in engineering and business are in high demand across industries ranging from health care and medical devices to mining and aerospace. Employers increasingly seek professionals who can connect technical engineering decisions with business strategy to identify market opportunities.

Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon, a business of RTX, said the company is committed to providing IBE students with internships.

“We believe in the future of you, as students, and we’re looking forward to what you will do,” she said.

Another IBE student, Eve Forrey, grew up in Seattle around tech giants Amazon and Microsoft. She had planned to double major in business and engineering, but the university launched IBE just as she prepared for her first day.

“It’s really cool seeing how everyone has so much passion and faith in the students that have already enrolled in the program,” she said. “I would love to potentially start my own business.”