Carnegie Mellon University

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May 13, 2019

Kelly Updates Profile with Tepper School MBA

By Bruce Gerson

Commencement usually brings a hectic working weekend of livestreaming, posting and tweeting for Laura Kelly, associate director of social media for Carnegie Mellon University. But this year, Kelly has the weekend off — she’ll be marching with the Class of 2019 to receive her MBA from the Tepper School of Business. 

After juggling her taxing work schedule and studies for 32 months and 16 mini-semesters, Kelly will earn her graduate degree in the Tepper School’s innovation management and product development track with concentrations in marketing, communications and organizational development.

“I always wanted to get a master’s degree,” Kelly said. “I chose the MBA because Tepper is a top-tier school and it seemed like a master’s degree in business would be most transferable to all of my interests and fields that I may want to pursue. In the end, it’s given me a sense of confidence to tackle new challenges outside of my comfort zone.”

Kelly has successfully met several challenges at CMU.

In her four years, she has more than doubled the university’s presence and followership on social media with 140,000 followers on LinkedIn, 135,000 on Facebook and 52,000 on Twitter.  She has organized a social media group at CMU for more than 80 staff running over 150 university-affiliated social media accounts. In January, she hosted a daylong workshop for the group on analytics, storytelling strategy and how to create and edit videos on a smartphone.  And for the past two years, she has led CMU’s digital media coverage of South-by-Southwest, the premier technology and arts festival in Austin, Texas.

“At SXSW, we were able to cover a lot of faculty and alumni talks, and get CMU’s name out to the tech, arts and entertainment communities,” Kelly said.

Some of the biggest hits on social media under Kelly’s tenure have been videos she produced around New Year’s Eve, featuring students performing renditions of “Auld Lang Syne.” 

“Every year the videos do really well. We featured an a cappella group, a marimba player, the Tartan Tuba Band and last year we filmed a group called Exploded Ensemble performing in an old limestone mine,” she said. “That was super cool and people agreed. People respond to anything fun the students are doing.”

image of Laura Kelly at the food bankLaura Kelly put on the Scotty Dog mascot costume at the food bank in support of CMU’s annual food drive.

Kelly said CMU’s most successful social media post came by happenstance, when former President Subra Suresh was invited to take the first public autonomous Uber ride in Pittsburgh with Mayor Bill Peduto.

“That was the biggest by far,” she said. “I found out about it that morning and took an Uber to get there on time. All the literature you read about social strategy tells you to ‘be unique.’ And this was a first.”

Kelly said the most fun she’s had on the job has been on Broadway promoting alumni, CMU’s partnership with the Tony Awards and its sponsorship of the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. She’s interviewed famous alumni, including Tony winners Judith Light, Billy Porter, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Renee Goldsberry.

“One of the things so appealing to me about CMU is the chance to talk about robots and Broadway. If there was a Venn diagram of my interests, robots and Broadway would be my sweet spot,” she said.

A member of the American Civil Liberties Union board in Pittsburgh, Kelly is involved in several charitable efforts. She’s an “adult buddy” for Girls on the Run, a program designed to build confidence and athleticism in young girls, and lends her social media skills to supporting CMU’s annual Food Drive and its involvement in the Special Olympics.

“CMU hosting the Special Olympics has become my favorite day on campus,” she said. 

Having completed her master’s degree, Kelly hopes to have more time to spend with family, friends and her boyfriend, Anthony, a 2018 Tepper MBA grad whom she met in class. 

“We’ve been waiting to go on a vacation,” she said.

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