The University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration recently hosted TIAA President and CEO Roger Ferguson for a Fireside Chat with undergraduate students that covered a wide range of business topics, including investment trends, leadership challenges, career pathways, and demographical changes in America.
With more than 1 trillion dollars in assets under management, TIAA is a Fortune 100 financial services organization. The company is a leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields.
Ferguson visited Pitt’s campus on November 13, 2018 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of TIAA’s founding. In addition to the session with students, he also spoke to Pitt faculty and staff in a presentation titled “Considerations When Writing Your Own Financial Story.” His visit was organized by the Pitt Office of Human Resources and endorsed by the faculty and staff affinity groups at Pitt.
TIAA and Pitt have a long history that dates back to Pittsburgh steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie helping to create the world’s first pension system for college professors. Since then, Pitt has grown into a globally recognized public research university and TIAA has become a financial services powerhouse.
Audrey J. Murrell, associate dean of Pitt Business and director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, moderated the fireside chat with Ferguson. Their discussion hit on many topics of interest for the several hundred students from across Pitt that packed the University Club to hear the discussion.
“It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Mr. Ferguson and hear his insights on the field of business,” Murrell says. “As a highly accomplished business leader, Mr. Ferguson offered a perspective on resiliency and charting your own path that was extremely valuable for our business students to hear, especially as they prepare to start their own career journey.”
Ferguson, who joined TIAA in 2008, touched on many themes in his talk. He drew on vast business experience that includes his former roles as head of financial services for Swiss Insurance Company, vice chairman of the Board of Governors for the U.S. Federal Reserve System, and associate and partner at McKinsey & Company.
In his presentation with the students, Ferguson also touched on the importance of retirement planning and financial literacy.
“At Pitt Business, our mission is to take students From the Classroom, To the City, To the World,” Murrell says. “This opportunity to have a front-row to a leader in the business world, a person with a global platform and a direct impact in charting the course of his company, was a wonderful example of real-world learning”
Fast Facts about Pitt Business
- Pitt Business is the #11-ranked public university in the Poets & Quants 2018 Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking. Read more about the ranking >>
- Pitt Business is the #4-ranked public university by recruiters in Bloomberg Businessweek.
- Pitt Business consistently has a first-destination placement rate that exceeds 90 percent for graduates within 90 days of graduation.
