The Campaign for Sustained Leadership

“In my profession, you can either produce good numbers or you cannot,” Beth Nelson says. “Results are completely measurable. Having confidence in your ability is key, especially in difficult stock markets.”

Nelson, who is a managing director at Neuberger Berman, commuted from New York City to Wharton, where she attended the WEMBA program. “I was a music major as an undergraduate, and I always wanted to have a better handle on the courses you’d find at business school,” she notes. At Wharton, Nelson studied statistics, operations research, and computer applications, “all courses that a self-respecting music major would not take.”

The tools Nelson gained from her coursework made her feel that she had more command of the field – enough to make a career change that has brought her to where she is today. “I felt like I could take a job that involved a great deal more risk than the one I had,” Nelson explains. “I could get through Wharton, after all.”

A major part of the WEMBA experience, according to Nelson, was being surrounded by a diverse group of working professionals. Nelson’s WEMBA class included 33 people from different fields and companies. “You learn quickly how certain personality types are aligned with certain professions, and you need to find the one that is right for you,” she says. “I learned a lot from observing the people around me, and in the end I knew I was in the right field.”

Nelson, whose husband is also a Wharton graduate, has remained in close contact with the School. She has served on Wharton’s Graduate Executive Board since 1995, and this spring, as part of a larger gift to Wharton, she committed $1 million to name a classroom in Huntsman Hall. Her gift is one of the largest the School has received from an alumna.

While working at Neuberger Berman, Nelson observed a number of her partners donating to charitable organizations. “That influenced me,” she says. “It’s important to remember that you had a helping hand while achieving your success.”