At first glance, Blake Dinçman 25BBA (pronounced ‘Dinch-men’) looks like the kind of student for whom a red carpet must have rolled out on his way to Emory. The accolades that decorate this scholar and baseball player are too numerous to name in full, but they include his role as Undergraduate BBA Council Executive Vice President, his membership in the Emory Williams Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award Selection Committee, and his appointment on the Undergraduate Student Leadership Council. His current 4.0 GPA–with concentrations in both Finance and Organization & Management–puts him on track to graduate with Highest Distinction as a member of the top 5 percent of his graduating class, and he’s also on course to win Scholar Athlete Awards for both Goizueta Business School and Emory Athletics in recognition of his outstanding baseball career.
Which is why one might be surprised to learn that this all-star student-athlete didn’t make the cut in his first application to Emory.
“I took a unique path to Emory,” says Dinçman. “I didn’t get into Emory and went to Tulane University out of high school to play baseball. I thought that I would spend all four years of college there. However, I was cut from the baseball team at the end of my first semester there, and I immediately entered the transfer portal and landed at Gulf Coast State College for the following semester. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my A.A. in General Studies and I was recruited by the Emory Baseball team as a transfer.”
Determination and adaptability are what carried Dinçman toward his destiny–skills he honed through his baseball career.
“Baseball has brought me some of the most valuable mentors and coaches in my life, and instilled values of diligence and devotion that can translate to any field.”
Dinçman also credits his homerun of an academic career to the collaborative and intimate environment of Goizueta Business School, the support of faculty and classmates there, and–especially–his family.
“I’m grateful for my parents Tolga and Holly, who gave me everything just to have the chance to be successful in my life.”
“Dinçman is quite extraordinary,” says Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education & Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management Andrea Hershatter. “His discipline, commitment, and engagement are unmatched. I don’t believe it is possible to do more than he has done as an Emory student.”
Post graduation, Dinçman is weighing a few offers, but will most likely be joining PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia, PA, as an Asset Management Group Development Program Analyst, where he hopes to make a tangible impact for societal good.
“The niche line of business I’ll be working with at PNC–called Institutional Asset Management–carries great societal impact in my eyes. Instead of being a strictly transactional business, we manage the relationships and investment accounts for Endowments & Foundations, Public Pensions & 401(k)s, and other private companies. For example, we get to see firsthand how PNC-advised investment growth leads to additional scholarship and grant opportunities for endowments and foundations, who often disburse funds to impactful social causes and exceptional individuals and students.”
Dinçman will miss his Goizueta community, and–surprisingly–finals week. Those grueling study sessions hunkered down alongside classmates with food and paperwork strewn across the table left him with some of his favorite memories. He credits both his Business Law grade and his close relationship with his senior baseball teammates to their hours-long roundtable review sessions before exams.
In the future, Dinçman dreams of founding a FinTech start-up, or managing a fund alongside his Emory Baseball teammates and Goizueta-peers Chris DiVito and Jonah Wronski.
“Given my upbringing in the Deep South and the emphasis placed on ‘Southern Hospitality,’ I hope to bring a unique perspective on relationship-building wherever I land.”
Ultimately, Dinçman hopes to be an involved alumnus and mentor who finds himself, one day, in a philanthropical position to help support the people and institutions that raised him.
“I took great pride in leading younger baseball teammates in all aspects of their college career, and I hope to become the kind of mentor that pushes others to realize their own potential. I always want to uphold a focus on service and social causes, as well as the importance of one’s family and faith in their life.”
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