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Beth Wade Nelson, WG'82
By Kelly Andrews
Beth Wade Nelson, WG'82 (WEMBA VI),
retired three years ago from Neuberger
Berman, where she was a partner and
managing director. She hasn't stopped
working. The difference is that now she
devotes her time to philanthropic causes
instead of managing $1.2 billion in assets
for individuals.
"It was time for me to retire. I wanted to do other things.
I didn't want to wait and find that I regretted what I didn't
do," she says. Wharton is Nelson's most important nonprofit
endeavor. She serves as a member of Wharton's Board of
Overseers and the Wharton Women's Task Force and was
Chair of the Wharton Fund in 2005. Under her leadership,
the Wharton Fund achieved its best year ever, raising more
than $7.1 million in unrestricted funds. Nelson is playing
a leadership role in getting Wharton MBA Program for
Executives alumni involved in the life of the School, and
was the challenge donor for the MBA Exec class gift in
2003 and 2004. Nelson has been a member of the Joseph
Wharton Club for more than ten years, and she and her husband
Gary A. Glynn, WG'70, named a classroom in Jon M.
Huntsman Hall.
"I never forget that the reason that I'm able to give charitable
gifts is that I went to Wharton," she says.
Nelson's level of success shows the tenaciousness that characterized
her career from the earliest days. An undergraduate
music major, Nelson struggled to work as an oboe player. In
order to pay her rent, Nelson entered the finance field as a secretary
and worked her way up the finance ladder for 10 years
before applying to Wharton.
"It took a lot of perseverance, but I did any job—mostly
those that no one else would do in order to learn skills that
would take me to the next level."
Nelson had completed the CFA program, but felt an MBA
would make her a better investor. Her now-husband, Gary
Glynn, had graduated from Wharton, so she knew Wharton
was the right place for her. She needed to support herself and
found the WEMBA program (now known as the Wharton MBA
Program for Executives), so that she could work full time while
attending school full time. Two years later, Nelson graduated
with the WEMBA VIs, a diverse class of 33 individuals from different
fields and companies.
Now, after a long, full career, Nelson is able to show her
gratitude through charitable giving. In addition to her work
with Wharton, Nelson sits on the boards of the Metropolitan
Opera of New York, the Washington National Opera, and the
Gunnery School.
She also tries to help others through support of education
at many levels. She and her husband work anonymously with
the principal of an elementary school in upper Manhattan.
"These are hard-working kids from tough backgrounds, but
they don't need a lot to encourage them—a little attention,
some tutoring, and for one student, braces for her teeth—to
give them a message that they have a future," she says. "I
know the kids, but they don't know me. Making a difference in
these kids' lives makes even the worst day in the stock market
worth it."
She also aims to enable another generation of philanthropists
at the Wharton School through her donations to Wharton
and her tenure as Chair of the Wharton Fund.
"When the best-quality students are helped to go to
Wharton, there is a double benefit," Nelson says. "The students
then graduate to become effective executives who
will grow companies, create jobs, and provide wealth. These
graduates, having achieved a high level of success, then make
charitable donations. There is a multiplying effect in charitable
giving. My early contributions seemed too small to matter.
However, now I know that every dollar matters."
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