Bellwether of Support

A trio of CMU alumni come together to assist veterans at the Tepper School of Business

Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Daniel Leonard had a serious question for his good friends and fellow alumni Ronnie Bush and Kyle Eberly, all graduates and supporters of the Tepper School of Business.

Couldn’t they make a greater impact together, creating and raising funds for an endowed fellowship, a gift that would continue and grow over time?

Ronnie and Kyle readily agreed, and the three made multiyear commitments — creating the Tepper BELL (Bush, Eberly, Leonard Leadership) Veterans Fellowship, dedicated to assisting MBA students who are U.S. Army veterans like themselves.

While the G.I. Bill and Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program can help, many veterans don’t have full access to these education benefits.

“There should be no veteran who can’t go to Tepper because of funds — that’s the goal,” says Daniel, a former Army captain who graduated in 2017 with his MBA. He works in transportation and logistics investment banking as a vice president with Harris Williams and is an alumni reunion co-chair for his class.

“The Tepper BELL Veterans Fellowship is a metaphor for ringing the bell as we come together as a community. How do we lift each other up? How do we build the community? Tepper helped me by providing a framework to transition into investment banking. It provided a network and a prescriptive training ground to figure out my path.”

The fellowship dovetails perfectly with Kyle’s active volunteer work helping other veterans make their own transitions from military to civilian life.

“Tepper was transformational in my career,” says Kyle, a former Army major and pilot who graduated in 2018 with his MBA. He works at Google in product strategy and business operations. “I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t had the opportunity to attend this school and get that jump-start. Now I get to work at Google. It’s pretty amazing.”

“I came because Carnegie Mellon has that reputation as the best in tech with incredible connections to the tech world,” says Kyle, who is reunion chair for his class and former president of the Tepper Veterans Club. He helps lead Google’s recruiting effort at the school.

“Cost, however, is often a big impediment for other veterans who want to go to MBA programs, and we want to see as many veterans as possible at Tepper.”

Ronnie, a former Army captain who graduated in 2018 with his MBA. He is now in technology investment banking as a vice president at Barclays.

Ronnie came to the Tepper School to augment his solid leadership and communication skills “with the quantitative, more analytical piece and obviously Tepper’s reputation in that area is second to none.”

“With a military background, the close-knit community, camaraderie and family-type atmosphere was something that really spoke to me,” says Ronnie, also a former president of the Tepper Veterans Club.

“Tepper definitely helped me greatly in getting to where I am today. It provided a springboard to transition from the army into the corporate world, and I definitely would not have landed an investment banking gig without the help of the Tepper network. When I started my career, it was the Tepper folks who looked out for me and helped me along the way.”

The fellowship has enjoyed strong participation, in fact, former Army Ranger, NFL All-Star and Tepper School 2019 graduate Alejandro Villanueva generously provided a challenge gift.

However, Daniel, Ronnie and Kyle are still actively fundraising to reach their goal of providing for any veteran in financial need.

“An MBA is an amazing tool for a veteran to make that transition from the military into the corporate world, and the three of us saw that up close,” Ronnie says.

“Tepper really was the foundation for where we are today. It offers one of the best MBA programs out there and gave a lot to all of us. It made us feel that we can do some real good here and give back to the school that gave us so much and also give back to other veterans to help them get a jump-start on their careers.”