Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy - Tufts University

“Looking at the future, we see a truly globalizedworld, with developing markets as theengine of a globalized economy and growth.”Maria Gordon F 98I am originally from the Caucasus, near Chechnya. At 17, I went to Moscow Universityto study journalism, which led to a job as a junior reporter for The Washington Post’sMoscow bureau. I soon realized that I liked research better than writing, so I decidedto study political science. When I was awarded a Fulbright, I enrolled in the Universityof Wisconsin where I got my BA in political science.After graduation I returned to The Washington Post in Moscow and covered BorisYeltsin’s election in 1996. But education called once more and Fletcher’s flexiblecurriculum appealed to me. Fletcher’s approach made it possible to work in differentareas, from diplomacy to economics. I had never done that before.During my first semester at Fletcher I took Professor Laurent Jacque’s introductorybusiness course and became interested in finance. When I went to find an internship,Professor Jacque made a call on my behalf to a former student of his who was workingat Banco Garantia in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time, they were thinking oflaunching a Russian Equities Fund and they offered me a four-month internshipat the bank doing corporate research. It was fascinating work and it reinforced myinterest in emerging markets.When I graduated from Fletcher, I took a job at Goldman Sachs in London,where I managed the Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund, and I am currently anExecutive Vice President at PIMCO, a global investment solutions provider. Looking atthe future, I see a truly globalized world, with developing markets as the engine of aglobalized economy and growth.Maria Gordon is an Executive Vice President at PIMCO in London. She received a BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin and aMALD from The Fletcher School. In 2001, she was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.(18)