Army Ranger veteran excels as Executive MBA student

James Knuppenburg’s path to Rutgers Business School’s Executive MBA Program is a testament to his grit and ambition. The hedge fund account manager, entrepreneur and decorated Army veteran has overcome challenges few could imagine.

At age 3, he and his five sisters and brothers were placed in the New York foster care system when their parents were imprisoned for drug and prostitution convictions. He and one brother lived in a foster home with seven other children until a couple adopted Knuppenburg three years later.

He lettered in football, basketball and soccer at a central New York high school, but his academic performance fell short. Failing to get into a Division 1 or 2 university, Knuppenburg enrolled in community college, but dropped out and took a job loading merchandise onto trucks. After a year, he headed to the local Army recruitment office.

“I felt I needed more, that I could do so much more,” he said. He told recruiters he wanted to serve on the front line in special operations. Knuppenburg handily passed the fitness test given on the spot and was enroute to basic training three weeks later.

Deployed Five Times, Wounded in Battle

Knuppenburg joined the Army Rangers, an elite unit specializing in close-range combat. He deployed five times to Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Between deployments, he trained as a paramedic and took courses in leadership and parachuting. “Being a Ranger is competitive, and to get the promotions you have to differentiate yourself,” he explained.

In 2010, during his fourth deployment as an infantry team leader, a sniper’s bullet tore through his chest and severely damaged his right arm. He underwent the first of 12 surgeries in Kandahar before being flown, in an induced coma, to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, D.C.

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The near 2½-year recovery was grueling, both physically and mentally. After a month in the hospital, the Joint Special Operations Command arranged an apartment for him, and the Army Ranger Lead the Way Fund, a nonprofit, provided him with clothing and support. It also covered travel expenses for his mother to care for him. When she couldn’t be there, fellow Rangers got him to medical appointments.

Knuppenburg reenlisted in 2012. “I wanted to get back into the line, but I had to find a position,” he said. The only one available was battalion vet technician, responsible for caring for K-9s used in missions. He underwent intensive physical rehabilitation, trained as a K-9 handler, and served as vet tech/kennel master for his fifth and final deployment in 2014.

The Next Phase 

The Purple Heart recipient received an Army medical retirement in 2017 and began the next phase of life. Lead the Way Fund helped him apply to Columbia University, where he studied financial economics. Knuppenburg completed the final year of his bachelor’s degree online during the pandemic. 

He landed a job at J.P. Morgan in 2021 as an account manager servicing hedge funds and institutional investors. Again, as he had in the Army, Knuppenburg looked for ways to differentiate himself. He applied for a spot in the Rutgers Executive MBA program for 2025, but Professor Farrokh Langdana, the program director, accepted him early, making him part of the September 2024 cohort. 

“The [Army] Rangers are the best of the best, so that drew my attention,” Langdana said. Rutgers EMBA program is military friendly and typically has four or five veterans per cohort, he noted. “These are people with inherent leadership skills, who think quick on their feet and can make decisions independently, and James epitomizes that,” Langdana said.

Langdana is not the only person at RBS impressed by the 38-year-old Knuppenburg. “James has an incredible work ethic and manages to maintain an unshakable positive attitude,” said Andrew Pfeil, president of the 40-member Class of 2026. Pfeil credited Knuppenburg’s encouragement for his decision to run for president.

Energizing Classmates

Knuppenburg and Pfeil are part of the same study group within their EMBA cohort. “He provides that positive energy that pushes everybody to better themselves,” said Pfeil, a real estate controls and analytics professional.

“He’s authentic, likable and always looks to talk to people and learn from them,” Pfeil said, adding that Knuppenburg’s qualities “really open people up to have conversations they might not otherwise have.” Classmates look forward to Knuppenburg’s 5 a.m. texts urging them to make it a great day, he said.

The EMBA program’s demands are rigorous. Each semester begins with six intensive days covering a fifth of the curriculum, Langdana said. The full-time professionals then attend in-person weekend classes on alternating Saturdays and Sundays. In between, they organize study groups and work on projects around group members’ schedules.

Knuppenburg said the camaraderie energizes him. “You’re collaborating with very sophisticated people who want more and are willing to give up their time to get more, and that makes you want to do the same,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a place I belong.”

For an end-of-semester project, the study group analyzed the healthy meal preparation business Knuppenburg and his fiancée launched in September to determine market penetration and target demographics. Legacy Nutrition and Wellness will soon begin selling meals to the public on its website. 

“He’s going to make it really big,” Langdana said.

-Margaret McHugh