Amid the final weeks of a spring semester at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, students have a lot on their minds and things to fill their calendars.
However, one Fox School event invited students to pause and be inspired by an alumnus whose career with a healthcare giant has made a positive impact on the industry.
Nauman Shah, MBA ’00, the global head of business development for Johnson & Johnson, joined Fox School Dean Chip Hunter for a fireside chat before students, faculty, and school stakeholders.
Shah’s return to the school on April 23 served as the kickoff event for the Fox School Board of Visitors’ (BOV) spring 2026 meeting.
Inside Alter Hall, Shah, also a member of the BOV, discussed a wide range of topics with Hunter and the attending students, faculty, staff and school stakeholders. He quickly engaged attendees by discussing his career journey as a pharmaceutical and medtech executive and experiences within higher education as well as offering a high-level analysis of the healthcare industry today.
Shah has spent over two decades as an instrumental leader within Johnson & Johnson. Before his current role, he served as chief of staff to the pharmaceutical giant’s former chairman and chief executive officer, Alex Gorsky.
Early in the talk, Shah recounted his path in the healthcare industry to attendees, which was first shaped by the traumatic loss of his sister when he was 14. Originally on the pre-med track, Shah pivoted his career trajectory to the business side of the industry after obtaining a neuroscience degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
After a few years in the field, he turned to Temple’s MBA program, describing it as a perfect fit.
“I reached a point where I was ready to push myself further within the industry and complement my undergraduate degree, and Temple’s MBA program aligned with everything I wanted at the time,” Shah shared.
“I choose Fox over other institutions because it was better suited for me—it matched my lifestyle at the time, and the programming allowed me to pursue my graduate degree while also continuing my professional work and development in the field at a significant level.”
“My experience here (at Fox) allowed me to not only pick up important educational elements but be able to able to apply them in real time to the real world,”
Nauman Shah, MBA ’00, said. (Photo by Paul Edwards)
Unlike other programs, Temple also allowed Shah to develop his MBA studies around a specific concentration.
To him, this was imperative.
“When it was time to settle on an MBA concentration, I chose finance, a subject I knew close to nothing about,” Shah explained to chuckles from the room.
“The reason why I chose finance was because I knew it was something that would challenge me and was a topic that I had a lot to learn about.
“I was motivated to pursue something that was really hard in the spirit of hoping to shape and better myself for the future—wherever the journey was going to take me.”
While perhaps unconventional, the decision to challenge himself academically paid off: he utilized his experience at Fox to obtain knowledge that would set his career trajectory toward success and growth.
“I am very proud to say that I love my job because it gives me the opportunity to make a monumental impact for the betterment of humanity,” Shah said.
“I entered this industry because I’ve wanted to make a difference in people’s lives—I wanted to save lives, really—and it’s been a very fruitful journey at Johnson & Johnson and certainly one that thankfully we’ve been able to make a lot of impact through.”
Among all the topics discussed, Shah’s appreciation for his MBA experience at Temple was a constant throughline of dialogue.
“My curriculum as an MBA student at Fox was simply outstanding,” Shah recalled. “My experience here allowed me to not only pick up important educational elements but be able to able to apply them in real time to the real world.
“You want to maximize the learning experience that you’re given the opportunity to garner, and Fox created an environment for me that fostered that kind of learning, and they continue to do so for current students today.”
Shah’s retelling of his educational journey and career path resonated with students.
“I really enjoyed Mr. Shah’s address—it’s always encouraging to see successful Fox alumni come back to speak and share how their experience here set them up for success,” said Sandra Kalyan, a senior finance major who attended the event.
“It’s evident that he is very passionate about his career, and he did an incredible job showcasing that a successful and productive career is one that is about more than just a salary.”
The Fox School’s dean also noticed the impact that Shah’s message had on the audience as students stayed long after the event was finished. Their wait was rewarded as Shah remained until every student had an opportunity to speak with him.
“The way Nauman told his story inspired our students to want to learn more from him,” Hunter said. “What he had to say, and the way he communicated his story to them, really resonated with our students.
“A big part of what we want to do at Temple is inspire students to aim high—not just because they should, but because they can. Nauman showed the students how that’s possible through his own experience.”
Hunter also shared his appreciation for the strength of the Fox alumni network.
“When our alumni, like Nauman, return to Fox and share their stories, our students not only gain connections and networks, but they gain knowledge from professionals who are working in industries every day solving problems and working on solutions,” he said.
“They see and hear real-world applications of what they are learning in the classroom and that makes a big impact on their learning experience.”