Patricia Watson, a licensed architect with an impressive creative background, realized she needed broader business skills after accepting new position at Merck. Patricia enrolled in the Penn State iMBA program in order to build a strong business foundation which she believed would enable her to communicate more effectively with Merck's corporate leaders.

A Penn State iMBA helped Patricia gain the confidence she needed to fully engage in the business world. "I'm able to hold an intelligent business conversation about so many different topics, from human resources to finance, that go well beyond my original design and engineering perspective," she says.

Midway through the iMBA program, Patricia accepted a challenging position as Manager of Strategy and Portfolio Analysis for Merck's Global Real Estate Services. She is responsible for analyzing and developing Merck's global real estate strategy. She was promoted to that position after managers saw a budding business sense coupled with creative talent.

"I believe architects have a unique ability to formulate solutions that can have beneficial impacts on the build environment, the occupants, and the business enterprise. The Penn State iMBA has enabled me to translate the value of our real estate for the company," she says.

A foreign assignment and other opportunities within the company may also be in her future—more benefits of earning a Penn State MBA online.

Patricia also learned from her fellow students, who came from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds. "I got to work with people who have expertise in many different areas, not just in the pharmaceutical industry," she says. "This was supplement to the course material and provided a broader education while increasing my network."

When she's not planning Merck's next real estate project, Patricia is busy caring for her daughter Monica while her husband completes a surgical residency program. The convenience and flexibility of Penn State's online courses allowed her to juggle those responsibilities while earning a credible degree. "It's great that I'm able to show my daughter the value of an education at an early age."