Professor Barb Flynn began her professional career as an elementary school teacher after graduating with her undergraduate degree in psychology.
Flynn knew she wanted a PhD and had planned to pursue a doctorate in psychology after working as a teacher for a couple years. But after a summer job working in a corporate office, she decided to pursue her MBA at Marquette University in Wisconsin.
“I took an operations management class during my MBA, and I loved it,” explained Flynn, the Richard M. and Myra Louise Buskirk Professor of Manufacturing Management. “It was at that point, I decided to change directions and get a PhD in operations management. There weren’t a lot of women in that field in those days, so I was one of the first women to go into operations management anywhere.”