Alumnus Andrew Silberman: Taking Transcontinental Teamwork to Another Level

Middlebury Institute alumnus Andrew Silberman MBA ‘88 traces the roots of his success in international executive training back to all the collaboration he did while a student at the Institute. “It was sometimes very frustrating,” he said, laughing, “and I absolutely did not want to do it at the time.” For his career in communications, the many lessons and experiences he had - particularly in multicultural communications - have proved very relevant.

There were very few options to study business administration with an international focus when Andrew was looking for a program in the mid-1980s, and the Institute offered both a great program and a substantial scholarship. “Plus, it was in Monterey, the most magical place in the world.”

As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Andrew had studied abroad in Spain and saw himself as a little different from other students because of his international experience. “But when I came to MIIS, that was just a given: everyone was like that!”

After graduating from the Institute, Andrew moved to San Diego and began teaching business courses to international businesspeople. “It was during Japan’s bubble economy, and the biggest concentration of students came from there,” he said. Two classmates from the MBA program encouraged him to move to Tokyo and offer the same services there. And so, almost 23 years ago, a Spanish-speaking California boy made his way to Japan and eventually established a business offering high-performance training for business professionals.

He has stayed in close contact with many of his Institute friends and has employed several, including current employee Tanja Bach MAIPS ‘95. And through his alter ego of Andy Atkins, Andrew engages in another kind of multicultural teamwork with bandmates from Japan, the Congo, and Texas as the lead singer of rock bank Moonshots. His advice for students graduating from the Institute today? Stay in touch with your classmates!