Melissa Cummings and Patrick Surrett, two standouts of Gies College of Business' fully online MBA program – known as the iMBA® – have been named to Poets&Quants Best & Brightest Online MBAs: Class of 2026. The annual list honors 52 recent graduates across 40 top global business schools who demonstrate academic excellence, professional impact, and community leadership while working full-time.
Cummings and Surrett earned their spots by translating business theory into immediate results. Both used their studies to tackle complex operational challenges – Cummings in nonprofit workforce development and Surrett in defense healthcare systems.
The Gies Business iMBA program prioritizes flexible, hands-on learning designed to make an immediate impact on job performance. Beyond their coursework, Cummings and Surrett held leadership positions as ambassadors for the program and student government leaders.
Here is a closer look at this year’s honorees and how their Gies Business experience shaped their careers:
Melissa Cummings
Learning and Development Manager,
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
Melissa Cummings used her learning from the Gies iMBA program to rethink how her organization helps its employees grow. Returning to the University of Illinois decades after stepping away 12 credits short of her undergraduate degree, she applied what she learned in real time to rebuild the nonprofit’s entire employee training program in under a year.
Cummings curated more than 1,000 learning courses and redesigned leadership training for 400 front-line supervisors – leading to an 80% completion rate during the rollout’s first 90 days. She credits the Gies iMBA® with providing the strategic framework and analytical rigor needed to position employee capabilities as a measurable driver of workforce performance and organizational impact.
“I cannot imagine a more fitting way to close my MBA journey than this recognition from Poets&Quants, made especially meaningful because they’ve previously named it the MBA Program of the Year,” said Cummings.
Patrick Surrett
Director of Program Operations & Strategy
CIRE Business Solutions
Patrick Surrett drew on his Gies iMBA experience to expand his influence across federal healthcare operations. Drawing inspiration from his family’s long history of military service, he led a cross-functional team at the Defense Health Agency medical treatment facility that manages more than 100 beds and nearly 400 healthcare providers.
Surrett’s team used data-driven insights to give hospital leadership a clearer picture of provider workloads and scheduling bottlenecks, making it easier to assign resources and improve care for service members and veterans.
Simultaneously, Surrett participated in Gies Business global consulting projects and served as vice president of access and community for the iDegrees Graduate Business Association. He plans to build on this experience when he enters the doctorate in healthcare administration program at Oklahoma State University in fall 2026.
“I continue to be reminded of the impact the Gies iMBA® has had on my life – personally and professionally – and the ways it continues to shape how I think, lead, and approach what comes next,” said Surrett. “The College continues to expand what online education can be by making a high-quality business education feel both accessible and personal."