Tanner L. Morgan

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

“8th-generation North Carolinian. Cuban heritage. Backyard homesteader. High school sweetheart. Oldest of seven. History buff.”

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Fun fact about yourself: I once won a talent show in first grade for my creative rendition of Green Eggs and Ham and even got to perform it for the school principal.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – B.A. in Political Science and History, with Highest Distinction

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Before Fuqua, I worked at Capital One in the Business Cards & Payments division within the Chief of Staff Office.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? This past summer, I worked as a Summer Consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Raleigh/Durham, where I collaborated with a Fortune 500 financial services firm to develop AI-driven marketing strategies.

Where will you be working after graduation? After Fuqua, I will be returning to Boston Consulting Group as a Consultant.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Duke MBA Association (MBAA) Co-President: As Fuqua’s MBA student government, the MBA Association is responsible for enhancing the student experience.
• Graduate and Professional Student Government Senator
• Academic Fellow for Core Financial Management, Core Operations Strategy, and Corporate Finance: Academic Fellows are the lead Teaching Assistants for a course and help review the material with the class
• Consulting Club Case Parent: Provided first-year students with more than 175 cases to prepare for recruitment
• Dean’s List – 3.99/4.0 GPA
• Full Tuition Merit Scholarship Recipient

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of the things I’m most proud of at Fuqua was launching a financial inclusion initiative for MBA social events. We required every club to offer at least 20% of tickets at a capped price of $25 and exclude alcohol from these tickets. This made events more accessible for students facing financial constraints and provided a less expensive option for students who did or could not drink at the event, helping ease perceptions that they were subsidizing alcohol.

An unexpected but positive outcome was that most clubs lowered the price of tickets with alcohol included to remain competitive, ultimately making social events more affordable for everyone. Having students come up to me and share how they felt included in the Team Fuqua culture afterward was incredibly rewarding.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? At Capital One, I led the development of a product that allowed individuals without traditional credit scores, such as students and recent immigrants, to provide alternative proof of creditworthiness. I believe that access to credit is often a defining factor in financial mobility, and I saw firsthand how the system excluded those who lacked conventional credit history but were financially responsible. My work ensured that thousands of individuals were able to establish credit and gain access to financial services that could change the trajectory of their lives.

Why did you choose this business school? While I love to joke that I chose Fuqua because it was the business school in my backyard, Fuqua’s “Team Fuqua” culture stood out. I was drawn to how students genuinely support one another.

Initially, I was worried “Team Fuqua” was just a marketing gimmick. What I discovered is it’s a belief that we all adhere to, that doing right by others helps us achieve our own greatness. It’s true for both highs and lows: whether it’s casing peers for hours straight, celebrating a friend’s job offer, or consoling a classmate who just lost a parent. The Team Fuqua culture is what brought me to Duke.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Scott Dyreng, who teaches tax accounting. On the surface, this course sounds unengaging and irrelevant. However, Professor Dyreng turns it into something dynamic and fun. His dry humor, comprehensive discussions, and ability to challenge the way we think about problems made his class one of the most engaging I’ve taken. He cares deeply about the success of his students and teaching us new things that are applicable to our lives after Fuqua.

Professor Dyreng is also very personable, and often shares stories about his six children, co-owning a motel in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, buying a blackberry farm, and creating a podcast all about taxes called Tax Chats.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite class at Fuqua has been Business and Common Purpose with Professor Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, who is now the head economist at OpenAI. Professor Chatterji created this class to prepare us for the final job we’ll ever have — where, as business leaders, we are no longer just running a company but also engaging with the political and societal forces shaping that company.

Professor Chatterji’s approach was refreshingly nonpartisan, challenging me to think beyond the surface-level debate and consider the second- and third-order effects of business decisions. More than any other class, it forced me to reconsider my views on the evolving role of business in society.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? Fuqua Fridays are my favorite tradition at Fuqua. Every Friday, students, faculty, and staff come together in our community space to share food and drinks. This year, as student government leaders, we worked to ensure that every week included an engaging or educational opportunity. This came together in the form of clubs sponsoring the event each week. Clubs could share cultural food and music, a brand challenge between student teams, or even a trip to TopGolf to have some fun. These events offer a great opportunity to come together as a community outside of the normal schedule of classes or recruiting.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I wish I had taken advantage of Fuqua’s global programs, like studying abroad or participating in a Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE). Although I couldn’t study abroad as an MBAA co-president, my background in European history would have been wonderful to experience Fuqua’s deep international connections, especially in Europe.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I will openly admit that I’m biased, Raleigh-Durham is home to me. I love the area, and I’ve loved watching Durham grow so much in recent years, while maintaining its character. It offers everything you’d want from a big city: New York Times-acclaimed restaurants, live music, and a thriving job market, while also embracing a welcoming feel and Southern charm. Plus, with mild winters and four true seasons, it’s hard to beat!

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? One of my favorite shows is The West Wing, which follows a fictional President of the United States. While it’s about politics rather than business, it showcases the reality and hardships of leadership: making high-stakes decisions, balancing principles with pragmatism, and how to stay true to your values during times of crisis. I believe these lessons are just as relevant in business today as they are in government.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? As MBAA co-president, I’ve heard from countless students eager to see AI better integrated into the curriculum. As a result, I’ve been working closely with our new Dean of Innovation, Professor Scott Dyreng, to change that.

We’re developing new courses, integrating AI more effectively into the curriculum, and establishing a process for rapid-response insights from top faculty. This spring, we’re launching a session dedicated solely to AI and its impact on the business world. I’m hopeful that Fuqua will be a leader amongst business schools on AI.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I most admire my MBAA co-president, Colette Spriggs. Colette is one of the most hardworking, intelligent, and principled people I have ever encountered. Beyond that, she has an innate ability to bring people together and can’t walk down the halls without someone stopping to talk with her.

We met at Blue Devil Weekend, Fuqua’s admitted students’ weekend, before classes even started and immediately connected. Over the past two years, she’s been my closest friend and most trusted sounding board, whether we’re brainstorming new student initiatives or debating the best dinner spots in Durham. I feel incredibly privileged to know her and count her among my closest friends. I’m also excited that we will be working together at BCG Raleigh-Durham!

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

• Become a Professor of Practice: Later in my career, I want to teach and mentor business school students, sharing my work experience and key lessons learned. I’ve always loved learning, and I believe that helping shape the next generation of business leaders would be a fulfilling way to give back.
• Work abroad in Europe: I’ve always loved European history, and I want to spend time working in Europe to experience their culture and business environment firsthand. Living and working in a different country would help me understand new perspectives and challenge the way I think about the global economy, having only ever lived in the U.S. Beyond being personally rewarding, I believe I can take those experiences and bring them back to benefit my company and team in the United States.

What made Tanner such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“As a leader at Fuqua, Tanner is truly in the arena!

I deeply admire his care for making Fuqua better and his commitment to improving the experience of his classmates. He leads with his values and a passion for making lasting and meaningful change.

What is most impressive about Tanner is that he excels in every domain. Tanner is an exceptional student, both in his performance (near-perfect GPA) and his generosity in helping teach his peers. I recall leaving an important meeting in the fall where a group of student leaders, including Tanner, were talking about student club partnerships only to find Tanner leading a core Finance review session for a room full of his peers just 15 minutes later.

Tanner’s collaborative and generous approach extends to the career side, where he not only secured an impressive job offer with Boston Consulting Group, but he may have set a Fuqua record for helping cased over a hundred of his peers to help them prepare for their consulting interviews.

Watching Tanner support his classmates as MBA Association (MBAA) co-president has been inspiring. Leading leaders at Fuqua is not an easy task and very often involves challenging tradeoffs. Tanner has the exceptional ability to see the bigger picture and work towards compromise where appropriate with a deep care for doing what is right. I admire that he would never ask a peer to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself.

I don’t think Tanner ever took a minute off! His impact is felt across the school, as he has paved the way for future generations to continue building on his remarkable work.”

Steve Misuraca
Associate Dean of Daytime MBA and MMS Programs

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