With three Penn State degrees already under his belt, Todd Palmer had the skills necessary to work on high-security government projects, but he was looking for the confidence to manage those projects and the highly-skilled people who work on them.

Penn State's online iMBA gave him the leadership and people skills necessary to make the leap from team member to team leader. "Being a good scientist doesn't make you a good manager," he says. "This program gave me the skills I need to become a team leader."

After growing up in Central Pennsylvania and spending nearly a decade at University Park, Todd moved to the West Coast to take a job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

Although he was living 3,000 miles away from Happy Valley, Todd never forgot about his Penn State roots and says the decision to get a Penn State MBA was an easy one.
"I had been investigating programs and knew about the Penn State iMBA program from just about the time they made the announcement. From the start, I was impressed with how the program was set up and the amount of opportunities for student interaction even though it was an online program," he says.

In addition to his professional educational responsibilities, a 3-year-old son also keeps Todd busy. Like many adult learners, Todd struggles to balance family commitments with the requirements of a rigorous two-year program. "A lot of it has just been about staying up late and getting things done for class so that I can spend as much time with my son as possible during the day and evening hours," he says. "It can be tough trying to balance everything at times, but it’s been a very worthwhile experience."