Wharton Health Care Management Alumni Association awards prestigious Alumni Kissick Scholarship to second year MBA students Emma Howley and Ben Vandehey
The Wharton Healthcare Alumni Association (WHAA) recently chose Emma Howley and Ben Vandehey, Class of 2027 Wharton MBA students, for its prestigious $11,500 Alumni Kissick Scholarship. The scholarship is in honor of William Kissick, MD, PhD, who played an integral role in developing the Wharton HCM program and had been deeply involved at the national level as one of the pioneers of the Medicare program. The scholarship is meant for a deserving healthcare MBA student who exemplifies what Bill Kissick stood for: being socially responsible, having an insatiable quest for knowledge, and engaging others in a common cause. Riya and Talley’s background and experience fit this description very well. The scholarship is used to help defray tuition expenses to Wharton.
Emma Howley, MBA student
The Wharton School, Class of 2027
2026 Alumni Kissick Scholarship recipient
In acceptance of the Scholarship Award Emma said: " I'm incredibly grateful to be selected for the Kissick Scholarship. What resonates most with me about Dr. Kissick’s legacy is his belief that improving healthcare requires understanding the system through the combined lenses of business, medicine, and government. That philosophy has influenced the experiences I’ve pursued at Wharton and continues to guide the career I hope to build. Receiving this scholarship affirms my goal of advancing healthcare policy with an appreciation for both the operational realities of healthcare and the broader systems that shape it."
While at Wharton:
At Wharton, Emma has sought to understand healthcare from multiple angles. For example, she co-led a panel on U.S. drug pricing for the Wharton Health Care Business Conference and completed a Global Course on single-payer systems, which included advising a Romanian med-tech startup on U.S. market entry and regulatory strategy. She also worked with a large health system on its expansion strategy for an underinvested health category and interned with a startup developing technology to expand access to cell and gene therapies.
More about Emma:
This summer, Emma is interning as a Growth Strategy Associate at PerfectServe, a healthcare technology company. A key focus of her internship has been evaluating the evolving regulatory landscape for voice-enabled AI technology in healthcare, including FDA guidance and active legislation, to understand how these developments influence product strategy and create opportunities across the sector. The experience has given her valuable insight into how regulation can enable, constrain, and drive innovation.
Following graduation, Emma hopes to build a career at the intersection of healthcare policy and business, supporting government affairs or regulatory strategy in the private sector. Over time, she wants to gain experience across both the private and public sectors, whether through shaping regulation at an organization like CMS or helping write legislation on Capitol Hill, ensuring healthcare policy reflects both practical realities and the needs of patients.
Ben Vandehey, MBA student
The Wharton School, Class of 2027
2026 Alumni Kissick Scholarship recipient
In acceptance of the Scholarship Award Ben said: "I’m incredibly honored and grateful to have been selected for the Kissick Scholarship. I’m excited to carry forward Dr. Kissick’s earnestness for interdisciplinary collaboration and his belief in the power of policy to improve health systems, advancing accessible, equitable healthcare through both public and private efforts."
While at Wharton:
At Wharton, Ben is the Co-President of Wharton Global Health Volunteers, a student group offering pro-bono consulting services to high-impact healthcare organizations in low-resource countries.
More about Ben:
Ben graduated from the University of Washington where he studied finance and global health. After graduation, he joined Bain, where he spent time in the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice. Later, he joined the behavioral health team at a family investment office. Throughout, Ben volunteered with Peer Seattle, an LGBTQ-focused addiction and homelessness center, and the IRS through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
This summer, Ben is working with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), spending part of the summer based in Kigali, Rwanda. As a member of the Vaccine Markets Team, Ben is supporting launch planning for novel tuberculosis vaccines by developing financing strategies for Ministries of Health and modeling how upcoming clinical trial data could shape country-level demand.
After graduation, Ben will return to Bain to continue work in the Healthcare & Life Sciences practice. Long-term, his goal is to work at the intersection of health policy and public-private partnerships to strengthen behavioral health and primary care systems.