Audrey J. Murrell conducts research, teaches, and works with organizations on strategies to enhance overall effectiveness by utilizing their most valuable assets–their human and social capital. She conducts extensive research on building capacity of people and outcomes at work with a special emphasis on enhancing outcomes for women. This includes topics such as mentoring, breaking the “glass ceiling”, diversity, and workplace discrimination. Her work has been published widely in management and psychology journals as well as book chapter and special issues. Popular media—including the Wall Street Journal, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pittsburgh Business Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Black Enterprise, Jet Magazine, and Vida Executive (in Brazil)—has also highlighted Murrell’s work. She is the author (along with Crosby and Ely) of the book Mentoring Dilemmas: Developmental Relationships within Multicultural Organizations and the author (with Forte-Trammell and Bing) of the recent book Intelligent Mentoring: How IBM Creates Value through People, Knowledge and Relationships. She recently received funding from the Ford Foundation’s Having a Dream Fund to study way to increase the utilization of minority and women contractors/suppliers among public/governmental agencies.
Professor Murrell is a professor of business administration and holds secondary appointments in the School of Public and International Affairs and Pitt’s Psychology Department. She currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow for the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership within Pitt Business, but served as Director from 2007 to 2019. Dr. Murrell received her BS from Howard University, magna cum laude in 1983 and a MS in 1985, and a PhD in 1987 from the University of Delaware. She serves as a consultant in the areas of mentoring, organizational effectiveness, teamwork, diversity, and leadership development. Her clients have included Alcoa, IBM, Heinz, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Kaiser Permanente, FedEx Ground, Executive Leadership Council, YWCA, Carnegie Libraries, Human Engineering Research Labs, Kent State University, Howard University, and Hampton University. This work involves public, private, and governmental organizations and includes numerous public forum and media appearances. She also served on the Allegheny County Minority, Women and Disadvantage Business Enterprise Certification Appeals Board and was past chair of the Gender and Diversity in Organizational Division of the Academy of Management Association.
Dr. Murrell has received numerous recognitions including the Mayor’s Citizen Service Award from the City of Pittsburgh, the SBA Minority Business Champion of the Year, 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 Community Champion Award from the United Way of Allegheny County, the H. J. Zoffer Medal for Meritorious Service from the Pitt Business Alumni Association and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public and Community Service Award from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been included in Outstanding Young Woman in America and received Phi Beta Kappa honors in addition to the Kurt Ryder nomination for outstanding dissertation in the humanities while at Howard University. She was a member of Leadership Pittsburgh (Class XVI) and has also been awarded numerous research grants, including funding from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, H.J. Heinz Endowments, Maurice Falk Foundation, Institute for Industrial Competitiveness, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research, and the American Association of University Women.
Audrey’s community service activities include serving as the board chair North Side Christian Health Center. Her previous board memberships include: Mentoring Partnership of SWPA, Urban Youth Action, American Red Cross, Family Services of Western Pennsylvania, Fund for the Advancement of Minorities in Education (FAME), Leadership Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Presbyterian Foundation, FISA Foundation, Minority Enterprise Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania Lung Alliance, and Three Rivers Adoption Council. Professor Murrell has worked with the American Red Cross as an instructor, public affairs specialist, volunteer in the National Disaster Human Resources System, and previous member of the National Diversity Advisory Council in Washington, D.C.
