Chandan Devireddy

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

“I perform minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures, teach, research novel therapies, and supervise clinical procedural operations.”

Age: 46

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

Family Members: Married with 3 children

Fun fact about yourself: I once learned to speak basic Swahili while working for three months on the base of Mount Kilimanjaro through my medical residency’s international health program. I hope I can refresh my memory of it by travelling there again someday.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: B.S. Biomedical Sciences

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: M.D.

Where are you currently working? I am an interventional cardiologist on staff with Emory Healthcare and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Emory University School of Medicine

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:

Honors and Awards:

Undergraduate:

• Class Honors, 1992-1995
• Golden Key National Honor Society, 1994
• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, 1994
• James B. Angell Scholar, 1995
• Graduation with High Distinction, 1995

Graduate School:

• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, 1997
• William Dodd Robinson Award for Excellence in Internal Medicine, 1998
• Dean’s List, Emory University Goizueta Business School Modular Executive MBA, 2019

Residency/ Fellowship:

• Duke Global Health Elective Recipient, Moshi, Tanzania, 2000
• C3 Summit Intervention 2005 Meeting: 2^nd place case presentation competition, 2005

Faculty:

• Distinguished Physician, Emory Department of Medicine Clinical Distinctions Program, 2017
• Cardiology Today: Next Gen Innovators, 2017
• Emory University School of Medicine 2017 Doctors’ Day Featured Faculty

I am, above all, a husband and father which centers me to what is essential in life. I enjoy traveling to places near-and-far with my family and discovering new natural, cultural, and culinary wonders.

I have recently committed myself to investing more time and resources in working with organizations that seek to mitigate the consequences of climate change and habitat loss in the natural world.

At work, I serve as the medical director of the Emory University Hospital Midtown Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. This provides a dynamic mix of overseeing human resources for staff and physicians, inventory management, departmental strategy, quality control, and innovation efforts to ensure we provide medical care from which patients will derive maximal value.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? With the support of friends, colleagues, and, most importantly family, I was able to serve as a track director for my medical professional society’s annual scientific sessions (Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention) while also managing academic responsibilities for school. Watching the conference unfold in real time was especially gratifying after many sleepless nights of drafting schedules and agendas.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Joining the faculty of Emory University School of Medicine is, and continues to be, an honor and privilege. The field of interventional cardiology was born decades ago through pioneers working at Emory and I’m fortunate to be part of its continued evolution here.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? It’s hard to make a distinction, but Robert Kazanjian’s Strategy class was one of our class’s first entries in the academic program. His Socratic method style of teaching forced me to function outside of my comfort zone and appreciate how competitive firms approach strategic business thinking.

Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? Emory Goizueta’s program was flexible to allow me to control my schedule, was convenient for me as an Emory and Atlanta local, and has attracted enrolling classes of professionals from different industries and life experiences.

What did you enjoy most about business school in general? Without a doubt, it was working with, learning from, and developing lifelong friendships with the members of my cohort are the most valuable experiences I take from my time at Emory Goizueta.

What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? One often hears the cliché of physicians lacking an understanding of business processes. Beyond the obvious immersion in the basics, however, it was my exposure to working with my classmates in groups that greatly influenced my reaction to the sudden crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. Almost overnight, our medical team was forced to rethink how we manage patient care and hospital operations. Grounded in experiences with my classmates, I felt empowered to approach different problems critically and more effectively execute in delivering meaningful change so that we could maximize safety of patients and staff, adopt new techniques like telemedicine, and view the crisis as an opportunity to accelerate innovation.

Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? This was no easy feat. Navigating the program required me to reevaluate my method of personal scheduling, decision-making, and prioritizing activities. For me, graduation would have been impossible without the sacrifices made by family in allowing me to dedicate time to the program. However, in the end, this often led to seeking protected quiet time at late hours at night.

What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Prospective students should not approach the process half-heartedly. The program requires real sacrifice. Enrolling on a whim may lead to disappointment if the academic calendar isn’t approached with a plan to protect time and effort towards class-time, reading and deliverables.

What is the biggest myth about going back to school? I wasn’t sure if my brain would be able to function as a fulltime student again. It’s amazing how quickly one adjusts under pressure!

What was your biggest regret in business school? I regret missing quality time with my wife and children that is impossible to replace. However, I’ve emerged from the program with a heightened awareness of how I define value in my life and for me, this revolves first around family and friends.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I’ve learned the most from Richard Lewis. As a former executive from the home-services industry with a finance background, our work history and experience were polar opposite from each other. I am continually amazed at his analytic skill, work ethic, managerial expertise, and boundless creativity. In group projects and class discussions, Richard’s comments and questions typically would uncover profound ideas and questions similar to the process of peeing an onion! On top of this, he juggles all of his responsibilities in a way that always prioritizes his family life. I am very excited to track his career. A real Rockstar!

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I started to ask why decisions were being made the way they were in my workplace.”

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I would like to further lend my efforts in healthcare leadership roles. As of this writing, the healthcare industry is in crisis mode battling the coronavirus pandemic. I hope to emerge from this as a stronger manager and clinician with the ability to succeed taking on further challenges.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I hope they remember a genuine colleague who tried his best to enrich our cohort’s experience with the limited time and energy I had available.

What are the top two items on your bucket list?

1. I would love to take my family back to Tanzania and experience the wildebeest migration in Serengeti National Park.
2. I’ve enjoyed an amazing life of achievement and adventure. My bucket check-off is to find a way to leave this world better for my children than the one I’ve enjoyed so much. We can and have to do better!

What made Chandan such an invaluable addition to the class of 2020?

“Chandan Devireddy was an excellent representation of the class of 2020.  Chandan is academically strong in all of his courses and takes on more than the average student while maintaining a busy lifestyle as a physician. He is in the top percentile of class.

The cohort looks to him for leadership and he is actively engaged in and out of the classroom. This particular cohort of students are in a hybrid format and spend minimal time on campus.  Social networking and interactions are highly important. Chandan makes a point to attend their social gatherings while still balancing his work at the hospital and family life.

Chandan has worked well with all of his teams and pushes the cohort to be stronger. He is inquisitive yet respectful of his faculty. He does exhibit many of the Goizueta Core Values.  He is an outstanding individual and a great contribution to our graduate program.”

Jaclyn Conner
Associate Dean
Executive MBA

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