Impressions

Meet a few of our current MBAs from the Full-Time, Executive and Professional programs. These quick bios give you a glimpse of who is currently in our programs, where they’re from, what they do, what they’re reading and listening to, and five words they use to describe themselves.

(Check out our spring issue for students from our Ph.D., MAcc, Undergrad, Online and Hybrid programs.)

Mercedes Moncada-Garcia, Full-Time MBA ’25

Born in Mexico City, Mercedes grew up in Guadalajara and is now a resident of Houston. She’s currently reading “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” by Bill Aulet. During the summer, she worked on an entrepreneurial reef restoration project. Her favorite memory on campus so far was the Partio hosted by the Latin Business Student Association, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, followed by the Valhalla afterparty.

Lucas Spangler, PMBA Weekend ’25

Lucas works as a senior manager at commercialization at NRG in Dallas. He grew up in Ely, Minnesota. His favorite memory at Rice Business is when a classmate frantically took off his tie as they walked into Valhalla so it wouldn’t get clipped! He is listening to “Fareed Zakaria GPS” and “Acquired” podcasts.

Mark Yang, PMBA Evening ’25

Mark now lives in Houston, 8,000 miles from Chengdu, China, where he was born. He has experience in healthcare and medtech and will work in management consulting next. His favorite memory on campus was celebrating his birthday with faculty, staff and classmates during Partio. Mark is reading “Never Finished” by David Goggins and listening to “Planet Money” and “Everyday Driver.”

Denise Buckley, EMBA ’25

A seasoned small-business-owner-turned-EMBA, Denise is fully embracing the art of living in the moment and navigating her next chapter. Her favorite memory on campus was her 50th birthday, celebrated with classmates, professors and her daughter (Brianna Buckley ’22), who surprised her in class with bundt cakes, much like the cupcakes her mom used to bring to her school on birthdays. The native New Yorker is reading “Die With Zero” by Bill Perkins.