Audrey J. Murrell conducts research, teaching and consulting that helps organizations better utilize and engage their most important assets – their human and social capital. She is current Professor of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration. She holds secondary appointments with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and the Psychology Department in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she served as the Associate Dean for the College of Business Administration, Acting Dean for Honors College, and as Director of the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her B.S. from Howard University, magna cum laude and both her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Delaware.
Professor Murrell instructs courses in Organizational Behavior, Ethics and Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, Cross-Cultural Management and Workforce Diversity. Dr. Murrell conducts research on mentoring, diversity, equity and inclusion along with inclusive leadership in organizations. This work has been published widely in management and psychology journals as well as books, chapters and special issues. Popular media has also highlighted this work including the Wall Street Journal, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Pittsburgh Business Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Black Enterprise, Jet Magazine and Vida Executive (in Brazil). She is the co-author of several books including: “Mentoring Dilemmas: Developmental Relationships within Multicultural Organizations” (with Faye Crosby and Robyn Ely); “Intelligent Mentoring: How IBM Creates Value through People, Knowledge and Relationships” (with Sheila Forte-Trummel and Diana Bing); “Mentoring Diverse Leaders: Creating Change for People, Processes and Paradigms” (with Stacy Blake-Beard); and, “Diversity Across Disciplines: Research on People, Policy, Process and Paradigm” (with Jennifer Petrie-Wyman and Abdesalam Soudi).
Audrey Murrell has received numerous recognitions including the Mayor’s Citizen Service Award which proclaimed Aug. 12th, “Dr. Audrey Murrell Day” within the city of Pittsburgh. She received the Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement, named “2021 Women of the Year” by Onyx Women’s Network and Magazine, the Gwendolyn J. Elliot Lifetime Achievement Award by the Shyne Foundation, and the Provost’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion in the Curriculum from the University of Pittsburgh. Murrell was also recognized by the Pittsburgh, Business Times with the “Woman of Influence Award”, the SBA Minority Business Champion of the Year award, the University of Pittsburgh Student Choice Award, the “Women of Distinction” award from the Girls Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Susan B. Anthony “Women of Vision” award from the Women’s Leadership Assembly, the Community Service award from the Pennsylvania Job Corps Association, the Joe Luciana Service Award, the Community Champion Award from the United Way of Allegheny County, the H.J. Zoffer Medal for Meritorious Service from the Katz Alumni Council and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public and Community Service Award from the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Murrell serves as a consultant in the areas of mentoring, leadership development, and workforce/supplier diversity. Her clients have included Alcoa, IBM, Microsoft, Heinz, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Bombardier, Kaiser Permanente, Fed-Ex Ground, Executive Leadership Council (ELC), National Association of Minorities in Communication (NAMIC), American Association of Blacks in Energy, YWCA, Carnegie Libraries, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Carnegie Institution of Science and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She participated in a congressional briefing sponsored by Senator Arlen Spector (R-Pa) on the issue of affirmative action. Murrell also served on the Allegheny County Minority, Women and Disadvantage Business Enterprise Certification Appeals Board and is the past-chair of the Gender and Diversity in Organizational Division (now Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Division) of the Academy of Management Association.
Audrey currently serves as the board chair and co-founder of Food21 of Pennsylvania. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for Meharry Medical College, appointed by the Mayor to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, board member for the Hill District Community Development Center and the University of Pittsburgh’s Institution for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Former board members roles include the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network, Leadership Pittsburgh and the American Red Cross National Diversity Advisory Council (N-DAC) in Washington, D.C.
