Name: Blaise Schneider

Hometown: Mound City, Kansas

Major: Business

Notable UD Memory: The Greece trip during the Rome semester; he treasured the opportunity to see the beautiful landscape and learn about historical events where they actually happened.

Future Plans: Working at Vizient in Irving while continuing his education in the 4+1 in Business Analytics at UD starting in the fall.

This is the fifth in a series of 10 stories that will be published to highlight the achievements of some of our seniors in the Class of 2021.

The Schneider family learned about UD from a family friend who at the time was in the seminary and is now a priest. He knew several people who attended UD and encouraged Blaise Schneider, BA ’21, to visit.

Schneider had a phenomenal campus visit and ultimately chose UD because of its size, its 4+1 Program, and its focus on forming the whole person.

“In my experience, UD excels at providing prospective students with a feeling of inclusion, and this helped make the decision to attend UD an easy one,” he said.

Schneider had attended a small rural high school in Kansas, so UD was large enough to make the transition exciting while still experiencing small class sizes. He came to UD as a declared business major and stuck with it — while he considered switching his major a few times, business always made the most sense for him.

“I enjoy solving problems and helping to bridge the gap between business and technology, so my hope is to eventually move into business systems analysis,” he said.

In a world focused on utility, he’s very grateful that UD’s education prepared him to enter the workforce while enriching his soul. UD challenged him academically and most importantly allowed him to understand others’ perspectives and to ask the critical question, “Why?”

“Blaise never merely accepted the materials. He analyzed the models, the readings, and brought the critical thinking skills he developed and honed at UD to bear on each topic,” said Professor of Management J. Lee Whittington, Ph.D. “Yet Blaise was respectful, even when he raised challenges to the ‘accepted wisdom’ of some of the classic materials we used in the class.”

Now post-graduation, Schneider will work for Vizient, the nation’s largest member-owned health care services company based in Irving, and complete his 4+1 in Business Analytics at UD. 

After starting UD as a shy freshman, Schneider decided that if he was going to make the most of his college experience, he needed to stretch himself and give attention to other areas besides academics. Thankfully, UD provided an inclusive environment where he had many unique opportunities to grow holistically. He got involved in Student Government his sophomore and junior years, participated in the UD Chorale for two years, was a Campus Activities Board leader as a junior and senior, served as a Student Assistant in Rome, and was a University Traditions intern his senior year.

With the encouragement of caring faculty and staff and new, lifelong friends, Schneider graduates as a confident young man.