Published March, 2010

It was while on an internship in Washington, D.C., that Ewa Nucinska, born and raised in Krakow, Poland, decided she wanted to go to graduate school in the US.
 
“You walk around D.C. and you feel a great sense of power,” says Ewa, who interned at the Polish Embassy a few years ago providing legal advice to U.S. investors and drafting a report on the World Bank Procurement Projects. “It was such a stimulating environment, and being there made me realize that I would like to be involved in international finance and trade issues. I knew that receiving my Masters from a top American school would be an asset in this competitive job market.”

Ewa, who is a Fulbright scholar, was instantly drawn to Brandeis IBS for many reasons. “What first appealed to me is that IBS offers a Master program with a strong emphasis on finance and economics,” she says. “And I like the way the professors teach and communicate here. There is a line of partnership between the teacher and student.”
 
The fact that the student body comes from over 60 countries continues to strike her. “People come from all over the world to study here. We work in teams on a daily basis and there’s this sense of mutual understanding and equality. No country is superior to any other.”
 
And: she fell in love with Boston. “It’s a great academic center, with a very European feel to it,” she says of the city, which is less than 10 miles away from the Brandeis IBS Waltham campus. “I go to the city as often as possible—to see an art exhibit, walk along Newbury Street, or see a matinee. This winter for the first time I had a chance to see The Nutcracker at the Boston Opera House.”
 
Ewa plans to pursue a career in international finance and policy-making, but is open to opportunities in the private sector, perhaps at a hedge fund or an investment bank. “What I’d love to find is a career that straddles the two worlds,” she says. “I recently learned about the International Financial Corporation, which is part of the World Bank, and provides advisory services to build the private sector in developing countries. In my opinion that would be perfect.”

Ewa currently works as Currency Portfolio Manager at the London Office of State Street Global Advisors, where she helps to oversee $100 billion currency assets globally.