{"id":3391,"date":"2025-11-14T14:07:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T19:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/?page_id=3391"},"modified":"2025-11-18T16:19:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T21:19:54","slug":"from-the-tepper-school-to-industry-trailblazer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/donor-profiles\/from-the-tepper-school-to-industry-trailblazer\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Tepper School to Industry Trailblazer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\"Melissa\n\n\n\n
\n

From the Tepper School to Industry Trailblazer<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Story by Danielle Braff
Photography by Michael Will<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Melissa Marshall (MBA 2006) arrived at the Tepper School of Business 21 years ago, she was searching for an MBA program that valued rigorous analysis over soft skills and embraced collaboration over competition.

Now, as vice president of Commercial Strategy and Optimization at Westinghouse Electric Company, Marshall credits the Tepper School\u2019s distinctive approach with shaping the leader she is today and inspiring her to give back to the school that set her on her path. \u201cThe Tepper School is not one of those cutthroat schools where people step on each other to get ahead,\u201d Marshall said, speaking from her home office in Nashville. \u201cThe class felt like a family: We\u2019re in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Productive Collaboration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Westinghouse, Marshall is recasting the internal audit team as a strategic business partner, where employees take the same approach to solving business problems collaboratively. A graduate of Penn State University with a bachelor\u2019s degree in materials science and engineering, Marshall confessed that she does not always have the best business ideas. She might have a good idea, but she said the magic happens when working with others to produce something even better than she could have alone.

\u201cThe professors always encouraged us to do group work,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cYou need to figure out how to work with different people.\u201d The favorite part of her job at Westinghouse is solving problems and building teams by finding people whose skills complement her own.

She honed her problem-solving skills in classes that were not necessarily pivotal for her future aspirations. Still, she recognized that broad knowledge is an asset. Then, she said, when working on business problems in the real world, she felt confident because while she might not be the expert, she knew enough to ask the right questions.

In school, she said, it is key to experiment with different ideas and solutions because there are no real-world consequences. A student can make mistakes and learn from them, then later execute and deliver on objectives with confidence in the professional world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Finance Leadership Development Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marshall’s experience helped her prepare for the unexpected. In 2020, she and a colleague created the Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) at Westinghouse. Marshall had previously worked as an auditor for Alcoa, where she observed that the most successful employees had all completed a similar program. This led her to develop the FLDP to help new hires at Westinghouse build leadership and financial skills.

This was not something Marshall had ever dreamed of conceiving at Westinghouse, but she realized it was a great way to learn about the company and the different functions of finance, and to help others develop skills in this area. She had this role for about four years before moving to her current position. \u201cI imagine this is what it\u2019s like to be a teacher when you see your students being successful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving Back to the Tepper School Family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Marshall\u2019s collaborative mindset found a natural home at the Tepper School. She feels a deep, family-like connection to the institution, which she credits to the students’ constant drive to find new and better ways of doing things. This shared passion for innovation has inspired her to support several Tepper School funds and initiatives over the years, and she continues to give back to her alma mater.\u201d

For Marshall, lessons from the Tepper School are a blueprint for helping others and to keep learning herself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Marshall (MBA 2006) credits the Tepper School\u2019s emphasis on rigorous analysis and collaborative teamwork for shaping her career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2299,"parent":2671,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3391","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3391"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4262,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3391\/revisions\/4262"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.tepper.cmu.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}