CBA’s youngest alum, Mario Tabone, graduates at age 18
The Current, Summer 2003
Photo: Mario Tabone
Photo: Mario Tabone with family
While most 18-year-olds were receiving their high school diplomas, Mario Tabone was graduating as one of the University of Detroit Mercy’s youngest graduates ever. Tabone earned his Bachelor of Science in Business on May 10 during the University’s commencement ceremony at Calihan Hall.
While
at UDM, Tabone earned both the Fitzgerald Award (see related
story) in Business Administration for scholarship, student leadership
and service to the University, and the CBA Marketing Award for outstanding
scholastic achievement in Marketing. He received the Presidential Honor
Scholarship and the Dean’s Honor Certificate for his 3.89 GPA. He
was also inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the national scholastic honor
society, which is the highest national recognition a student can receive
in an undergraduate or master’s program in business or management.
Tabone credits his success to his work in his family’s orchards, which grounded him in hard work and entrepreneurship. By age 13, he was managing the family fruit stand at the Oakland County Farmer’s Market in Pontiac, controlling all business operations and hiring new employees. At age 15, he became the youngest graduate ever at U of D Jesuit High School.
Tabone has not gone unnoticed by schools around the country—he has received more than two dozen acceptance letters, often without applying, including those from Georgetown University, Boston College, and Fordham University. He has also received full scholarships for MBA or law degrees from Valparaiso University, Indiana University and, of course, UDM, as well as Cooley Law School and Detroit College of Law.
Tabone’s
father, Mario Sr., certainly set an example by completing his bachelor’s
degree at the University of Detroit in two and a half years.
The younger Tabone has decided to attend UDM in the JD/MBA program.
