Before the amber light of sunrise covered the New York City skyline, Michael Ivie was already stretching and preparing to run all five boroughs, finishing in the iconic Central Park, and building his network one mile at a time.
“Some of the best networking I did while living in NYC was in my running shoes at 5:30 a.m.,” said Ivie, an Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (D.B.A.) student at the University of Miami Business School. Over the years, Ivie has run more than 2,800 race miles alone, equivalent to the distance from east to west across the United States.
He has completed more than 70 marathons, including 12 official New York City Marathons (plus 2012 and 2020, when the race was canceled and he ran the distance unofficially), along with 50-plus half marathons and triathlons. Ivie has also run five of the original six Abbott World Marathon Majors: Boston, New York, Berlin, London, and Chicago. Tokyo is next on his list, along with the two newest majors, Sydney and Cape Town.
Ivie is founder and managing partner of Eclipse Consulting Group, which helps highly regulated, data-intensive enterprises transform how they manage data and risk. An executive with two decades in data, risk, and transformation, he also founded SGS Equity Partners, a platform that acquires, systematizes, and scales boutique professional services firms in the enterprise data management niche.
A self-described practitioner-scholar, Ivie was both an entrepreneur and university lecturer, ready to formally support his work with scholarly rigor. That’s when the University of Miami Executive DBA program came into the picture.
Ivie saw the program's value instantly. Before he even entered a classroom, Ivie attended University of Miami events and connected with other business students.
“The EDBA program is special,” said Ivie. “In a short time, we’ve covered scholarly methodologies that I’ve already begun applying to my own research and content.”
An author, Ivie recently published his new book, Data Management 3.0: Building Trusted, Governed, and Intelligent Enterprise Data in the Age of AI. He credits his coursework for equipping him with a new foundational approach, which he is already applying to the next three books he has underway.
“There’s a logical flow to the program,” he said. “That flow has allowed me to focus on my research while also continuing to work on my businesses and other personal goals. The residencies have also allowed me to build relationships with other high achievers, and people who are ready to help each other and learn together.”
Ivie has used many of his races to raise awareness and funds for causes he cares about: Back on My Feet, which combats homelessness through the power of running; The American Legion and Semper Fi & America’s Fund, which support veterans and their families; and New York Road Runners' Night of Champions, which funds NYRR's free youth and community running programs.
