Bringing Engineering Precision to the Boardroom: Meet George Peklaris

With a career spanning global chemical companies and entrepreneurial ventures, George Peklaris brings a unique dual perspective to Rice Business. Now in the Professional MBA class of 2027, he’s channeling his experience into a new path: management consulting.  Continue reading George’s profile to learn more about his journey and his goals.

Tell us a little about your career and background.

I like to say my 11-year career has been shaped by a “dual lens.” By day, I was an operations leader at big companies like Dow, 3M and Estée Lauder, managing major projects and finding ways to save costs. But in my off-hours, I was building a 75-person sales team from scratch while living near NYC. Those two worlds weren’t separate at all — they fueled each other. The grit and communication skills I learned building a business were the same ones I used to get multi-million-dollar engineering projects approved. That background lets me connect what’s happening on the plant floor to the bottom line, and I chose the Rice MBA to sharpen that skill for a pivot into management consulting.

Education: 

• Rice University, Professional MBA (2027)
• University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.S. in chemical engineering, minor in chemistry (2014)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Dow, senior improvement engineer

Relevant Career Highlights or Industry Experience:

• Turned a hazardous-waste cost center into a $545K annual value stream by finding a way to commercialize the materials for reuse.
• Led a $2M strategic upgrade that boosted a core asset’s yield by 7%.
• In-sourced a critical chemical, getting rid of supplier risk and projecting over $500K in savings.
• At Schwan’s, I led automation projects that saved $5M+ in annual labor costs and redesigned production lines to increase capacity by 50%.
• At 3M, I kicked off Six Sigma programs that boosted productivity by 13% and cut waste by $500K a year.
• Certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP) and ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB).

What is a fun fact about you?

I’ve solo-traveled to over 15 countries and love exploring the food scenes in places like Mexico City and Medellín. I’m also a huge believer in giving back — after playing soccer for 15 years and getting into cycling in college, I’ve used that passion to help raise over $50,000 for the National MS Society and Make-A-Wish, including doing several Bike MS 150-mile charity rides.

Why did you choose Rice Business?

As a chemical engineer from New Jersey, I moved to Texas in 2019 for my career and absolutely fell in love with the state — the opportunities, the diversity and the food are all incredible. For me, Houston is the center of the universe for the energy and chemical industries, which is right in my wheelhouse. Rice’s reputation as the top MBA program in Texas, with deep connections to those key industries, was a huge draw. But it was the small-class-size culture and the fact that Rice gives you direct access to on-campus recruiting that sealed the deal. It felt like the perfect place to make my career pivot.

Why did you choose our Professional MBA program?

At 33 and with over a decade of experience, the Professional MBA just made sense. My goal was to build on my career momentum, not hit the pause button for two years. The PMBA program lets me take what I learn in class on a Thursday and apply it at work on a Friday, which is a powerful way to learn. Honestly, the tipping point was that Rice gives its PMBA students the same access to on-campus recruiting as the full-time students — a rare find that opens up real opportunities to pivot into fields like consulting while still working.

How are you feeling about starting your MBA? What are you most looking forward to?

I’m energized and ready to dive in. I’m really looking forward to getting into the consulting toolkit — learning strategy, practicing case interviews and getting better at data-driven storytelling. I’m also excited to learn from my classmates and see problems from a totally different angle, not just an engineer’s perspective. The goal is to build that board-ready problem-solving muscle so I can help companies tackle their biggest challenges.

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How was your experience during launch week? What were your first impressions of the program and your classmates?

Launch Week was an intense “0-to-60” start that really set the tone. It was a whirlwind of academic boot camps, career prep and getting to know our teams. My classmates are incredibly accomplished but also down-to-earth, and the variety of backgrounds makes every conversation interesting. My first impression was exactly what I’d hoped for: a tight-knit, high-performance community where everyone is ambitious but also has your back. It proved that Rice is a place that will push you, but you’ll have a strong network supporting you the whole way.

George Peklaris is a Professional MBA student in the Class of 2027.