Miami Herbert announces Online MBA recipients of the new Herbert Scholars scholarships

This spring semester, Miami Herbert Business School premiered the Online MBA program as an official addition to its selection of graduate degree offerings. The leadership team marked the occasion by introducing the Patti and Allan Herbert Scholars scholarships to the School’s menu of admissions awards.

The scholarships, enabled by sponsorship from longtime University of Miami supporters Allan Herbert and his late wife Patti, serve as another reflection of the couple’s philanthropic impact at the University. Their contributions for over a decade have advanced the growth of schools and centers across campuses, including the business school itself, which carries their names since 2019 when their total bestowments reached a transformative $100 million.

Vice Dean for Lifelong Learning and Executive Education Henrik Cronqvist captured the significance of their charitable dedication. “We are naming the scholarships in honor of Allan and his late wife Patti Herbert as they are role models for all of Miami Herbert’s students,” he says.

Cronqvist, who is also a finance professor and Miami Herbert’s Bank of America scholar, emphasizes that the merit-based scholarships reward “exceptional students who have shown strong academic performance in the past, combined with leadership in their professional fields.”

Online MBA students Sara Halbert and Alexander Erro share recognition as the inaugural year’s recipients. With military health services and sports backgrounds respectively, the students will take advantage of the program’s flexible scheduling for working professionals and a curriculum that brings innovation and a global perspective to the forefront.

For Erro, a professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox organization, the program signifies preparation for his long-term goal of joining the business side of Major League Baseball. Meanwhile, at just 24, he has embarked on his first business venture, recently purchasing a franchise of Gradum Baseball and now spearheading his own baseball development facility in Fort Myers, Florida. The Cuban American and native Miamian runs the business remotely and already finds ways to apply what he is learning in class.

“The tactics and strategy in my strategic management and marketing classes are incredibly relevant to what I am doing right now,” he says. “I have actually already implemented some of those thought processes into my business.”

Drafted by the Red Sox in 2019 as he pursued his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, Erro joins Miami Herbert to “fill a void in the learning process,” as he describes, and strengthen his understanding of strategy and business tactics. Already meeting his objectives, he credits the admissions committee for helping him prepare as he now juggles a seasonal sports career, his new business, and the Online MBA.

“During the admissions process, the committee was so understanding of my situation, especially since some of the lectures will be during season. They were willing to work with me and made me feel at home even before I was admitted,” he says.

Halbert similarly cites helpful faculty among the factors that led her to choose Miami Herbert, though the School’s status as an AACSB-accredited business school helped solidify her decision. The attribute meets military requirements to commission as an officer in the Air Force, a career direction that Halbert currently embarks on.

“I feel that I was made to do something more to serve and protect my country and my children by taking care of the people on the frontlines,” she says.

With a background in military health services and a bachelor’s in health care administration, she presently provides executive support under the Department of Defense for the team of medical executives at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia. As she begins the process of moving from civilian executive support to hospital administration as an active-duty member in the Air Force’s Medical Services Corps, Halbert is encouraged by the Online MBA program’s flexibility, offering both virtual and on-demand delivery of lectures as well as courses taught in seven-week intervals. The flexibility allows her to attend school while still meeting the mission of the Air Force and taking care of her family.

“I am the first person in my family to go to college,” she points out regarding her motivation to set an example for her two sons, 12 and 2. “I feel like I am paving the way for them. I am showing them that they can do the things that they put their mind to. I am teaching them to work hard.”

Erro and Halbert join a cohort of approximately 30 students for the 42-credit, 20-month program, which began on Jan. 10. Though the program is fully remote, all students will enjoy opportunities to interact with one another, as well as to network and build mentor relationships.

“Mr. Herbert's generosity means the world to me,” says Erro, who grew up near the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus. “He is such a prominent figure in the community. I can’t wait to meet him and thank him for such a significant help.”

“To see that someone who does not even know me thinks that I am worthy of this scholarship is awesome,” Halbert adds. “I am just really grateful.”