From Military Service to Management at Drucker
Leadership looks different when it’s forged in uniform and tested under real-world pressure. In honor of Veterans Day and National Veterans and Military Families Month, we’re celebrating the kind of leadership that is formed in service, refined in classrooms, and carried forward with purpose. At the Drucker School of Management, three of those students — Eric Wagner, Samuel Mendoza, and Oscar Acosta — are showing how the core values of service discipline, resilience, adaptability can evolve into a new kind of leadership in management.
Each of these students brings a unique military background but they share a commitment to leading with integrity, insight, and impact. Their journeys from service to scholarship reveal how Drucker’s philosophy speaks to people who know that leadership is more than strategy, it’s a responsibility.
Eric Wagner: Marine Corps Veteran
Eric served with the Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, including deployments on both humanitarian and combat missions. His service gave him a firsthand view of how leadership decisions and team cohesion directly impact lives, making his study of Drucker’s ‘employee orientation’ deeply personal. The decision to pursue a degree at Drucker came after a period of transition and reflection, as he started to ask what leadership might look like outside the Marines. “I had considered going back to school but never this close to home,” he said. “Then I remembered: my dad went here. Maybe it can be my school too.” Returning to the campus his father once studied at made the next chapter feel less like leaving something behind and more like carrying his service into a new setting.
Now enrolled in the Master of Management program, Wagner sees Drucker as a place for personal and professional growth that still connects back to his time in uniform. “That kind of leadership inspires me. That’s the kind of leadership I seek to emulate,” he says. In Professor Jaworski’s Drucker Philosophy class, one idea stayed with him above all: Drucker’s principle of employee orientation. “We construct society through each interaction. Community matters.” For someone who has led Marines in the field, the idea that every interaction shapes a larger community feels both familiar and newly urgent.
Samuel Mendoza: Navy Veteran
For Samuel Mendoza, a Master of Management student and retired Navy veteran, Drucker represents the next chapter after military service. His years in uniform taught him structure, discipline, and the ability to thrive under pressure — qualities that now inform both his academic journey and entrepreneurial ambitions. “How can I improve on top of all the skills I have now?” he asked himself. His answer was to start a business, lean into innovation, and share that journey with others. Today, Mendoza owns an AI music record label, a project inspired by Drucker’s ideas on self-management and effectiveness. “If I could build a business once and get paid forever in royalties and streams, then why not?”
What drives Mendoza is having a clear sense of intention. “The work-life balance is one of the biggest monsters I face daily,” he says. “But Drucker has taught me to be deliberate with my attention. Every day is about managing yourself, sharpening your tools, and showing up with purpose.” In the classroom, the habits he developed at sea — preparing, rehearsing, staying calm under pressure — now show up in how he tackles case studies and builds his venture.
Oscar Acosta: Marine Corps Veteran
Oscar spent 24 years in the corporate world before deciding it was time to stop talking about leadership and start studying and practicing it. His time in the Marine Corps gave him a front-row seat to the impact of integrity and accountability, shaping a lifelong belief that leadership starts with example, not title. That experience gave him the discipline and sense of responsibility that now guide his academic path. “Leadership isn’t a checklist or a slogan on a wall. It’s a lived commitment to listening, learning, and guiding people in a way that respects their full lives,” he says.
Now an MBA student focused on leadership, Acosta credits Drucker with helping him refine his instincts and expand his vision. “I’m increasingly drawn to a future where I can combine consulting with teaching,” he says. “Drucker has prepared me to approach that path with curiosity, humility, and confidence.” For him, the classroom isn’t a break from the real world; it’s a place to reexamine decades of experience and turn it into something he can pass on to others.
For these three students, Drucker isn’t just an academic institution. It’s the place where their years in uniform, their family histories, and their future plans begin to intersect. From the emphasis on employee orientation and self-management to the collaborative classroom environments and deeply human approach to leadership, their experiences suggest that the skills forged in service don’t disappear when the uniform comes off — they simply find new forms.
Military-connected students at CGU have access to a robust network of support. The Veterans Resource Center provides support with the GI Bill, peer connections, and transitional guidance. For students like Eric, Samuel, and Oscar, that network creates a landing zone where questions about “what’s next?” can turn into concrete plans.
Whether they’re launching ventures, exploring new fields, or building on decades of experience, these veterans aren’t only thinking about what comes after service. They’re actively creating it for themselves, for their communities, and for the people they’ll lead next.