Gabriel Pedigo
PMBA '24
Hometown: Baton Rouge
Home State: Louisiana
Home Country: United States
Undergraduate Institution: Louisiana State University
Undergraduate Degree and Major: Petroleum Engineering, Minor in Mechanical Engineering
Current Industry: Energy
Current Company: Seismos Inc.
Current Title: Upstream Business Development Team Lead
Desired industry post-MBA: Energy
Desired job function post-MBA: Upstream Business Development Team Manager
Student Organization Membership:
- Beer Club
- Rice Energy Finance Summit - External Relations Chair
- Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
- Real Estate Association
- Entrepreneurship Association - First Year Rep
- Wine Club
- Finance Association
- Entrepreneurship Association
What has been the most surprising part of your Rice MBA experience?
I knew this going in, but it has been pleasantly surprising how diverse the Rice community is. Everyone in some way, shape or form possesses a unique background that makes meeting new people extremely fun because you never know all of the amazing ways they will be different than you or anyone else you've met until that point.
What has been your favorite thing about your MBA experience so far?
The networking aspect has lived up to what I thought it would be. As a PMBA student I was always dissappointed during the application process at other schools because it seemed to be treated as a second rate MBA with a fraction of the opportunity of the full-time counterpart. That is not at all the case in my experience at Rice. There are so many opportunities for any type of MBA to get involved in clubs and events, and thats very important from a networking aspect because you have access to the 1000+ people that exist across all the programs which is a multiple of your 60 person cohort.
What do you LOVE most about Houston?
I'll be honest, I really love Austin so it's hard for me to betray my city of residence but I will say that the nice thing about Houston is how serious it is about sports and its sports teams in particular. It really helps bring the community together even if there are several million in it.
What is one piece of advice you would share with a prospective student?
Don't be afraid to put down that book and go grab a beer with your classmates at Partio, Beer Club, etc. - it can wait, I promise.