Fares Ksebati to receive Ilitch School's 2017 Emerging Leader Award
The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business has announced the 2017 recipient of its signature Emerging Leader Award. Alumnus Fares Ksebati will be honored at the school’s Annual Recognition and Awards Program on Thursday, Aug. 24, at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
Ksebati is the co-founder and CEO of MySwimPro, which was named the Best Watch App of the Year by Apple in 2016. The app helps swimmers of all levels achieve their goals through custom workouts, according to its website. Users can also learn techniques from videos within the app and receive analytics for each swim.
Ksebati, who graduated in 2013 with a B.A. in marketing, is a lifelong swimmer and, in recent years, has been a swimming coach. Along with Ksebati, MySwimPro co-founders include Apple iOS developer Adam Oxner and Android developer Michael Allon. The app launched on Android in February 2015 and on iOS in June.
“Now, we’re really focused on building community,” Ksebati said. “Regardless of where you are, you can share, compare and compete with each other in a digital community.”
On being named Apple’s Best Watch App of the Year, Ksebati said it was remarkable to have that level of recognition.
“It’s something you don’t really think about while you’re building a product,” he said. “It’s really satisfying and enjoyable to have Apple recognize our hard work, and it gives us a lot of external validation that we’ve built something truly valuable.”
For the second year in a row, the Annual Recognition and Awards Program will be emceed by Fox 2 Detroit anchor and reporter Roop Raj. In addition to Ksebati, the event will also honor student scholarship recipients and the yet-to-be-announced winners of the Michigan Executive of the Year Award, Distinguished Alumni Award, and Inspirational Teacher Award.
Sponsorship opportunities for this event are now available. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Steve Townsend at smtownsend@wayne.edu or 313-577-0202.
