By Jessica Hirsch
Current doctoral student Sergiy Dmytriyev (Class of 2018) hopes to incorporate his international work experience in his future scholarship to make an important impact in academia.
Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at Darden, Sergiy worked for several large U.S. based companies in Europe. He started his career at Procter & Gamble in Ukraine, where he conducted research to better understand consumer behavior. Afterwards, he worked as a management consultant for Bain & Company in Russia, where he completed over 20 projects on strategy development, cost cutting, and organization design. Then, he took a position as Business Development Lead for Eastern Europe at Monsanto, a leading company in biotechnology and agriculture headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.
“In the business world, jobs are limited by certain areas of responsibilities,” Sergiy said. “I decided to join academia because in the academic world, scholars can devote their research efforts to any area they are passionate about. I realized that I needed more time to think and reflect on the things which I became interested in, and I believed that academia could provide me with the opportunity.”
Originally from Ukraine, Sergiy has obtained a diverse, international education spanning several countries. Sergiy obtained an MBA from IESE Business School located in Barcelona, Spain, a top-three MBA program in Europe, and a Master of Arts in Economics from Michigan State University as a recipient of the U.S. Department of State, Muskie Graduate Fellowship program. During his undergraduate study at the Vinnytsia National Technical University in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, he also completed a student exchange program at Lund University in Lund, Sweden.
“After the collapse of the USSR, the U.S. supported the exchange of students from former Soviet Republics to American institutions of higher education,” Sergiy said. “There was a rigorous application process, and the U.S. Department of State placed me at Michigan State University. I met my wife, who also studied under the same program, during a summer internship in Washington D.C.”
Sergiy is currently researching Stakeholder Theory in the Business Ethics program of study under Professor R. Edward Freeman, Darden’s Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration.
“When I decided to move into academia, I chose Darden because it is one of the main –if not the biggest– centers of business ethics worldwide,” Sergiy said. “My research focuses on exploring what success really means in business and the idea of business as it goes beyond the narrowly economic view of the firm. Companies are a part of society, and they need to create value for all of their stakeholders.”
In his own writing, Sergiy hopes to incorporate diverse perspectives about both the economy and society as a whole. He plans to pursue these ideas further under Professor Freeman’s guidance and hopes to share them with a broader community in the future.
“I think of myself as a scholar-in-training,” Sergiy said. “I’m amazed at the opportunities that students and professors have every day to learn and discuss new ideas and concepts. I greatly value Darden’s close-knit community and the ability to stay on top of contemporary themes in academia.”
Outside of the doctoral program, Sergiy enjoys spending time with his family, who also live here in Charlottesville.
“My family is a big part of my life,” Sergiy said. “When I’m not working on the Ph.D. program, I am spending time with my wife and three children. Charlottesville is a great place to raise a family.”
