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Over a decade ago, Gabriel Gerson addressed a group of students inside the Steel Valley High School auditorium and offered some career advice. He had been invited back to his alma mater to provide some insight on his daily life as an engineer and offer a glimpse of what it was like working in the steel industry. As part of his presentation, he included recommendations on potential ways the students could enhance their resumes early in their professional careers. A Masters of Business Administration, he said, might allow them to blend their technical expertise with their business knowledge.
A few years later, Gerson graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with his own MBA. And as he returned to Steel Valley High School once again to speak to the Class of 2025 at their commencement ceremony on Friday, May 30, 2025, he marveled at the irony of following his own advice.
“It's funny, I think back to that, and I do recall one of the final slides mentioned that getting an MBA could really position someone for success,” he said. “It's having that technical background, but also the influence with the business lens. I actually threw out there that getting an MBA was a really great idea. Five years later, I went and did that. So I followed my own advice!”
A 2006 graduate of Steel Valley, Gerson is a shining example of how to leverage experience, knowledge, and a desire for new challenges as part of a career pivot. Math and science were always his strengths in high school, where he was the Class of 2006 salutatorian and a member of the National Honor Society. He also played football, and it was that blend of athletics, math, and science that drew him to Carnegie Mellon University.
He graduated with honors from CMU with a degree in Materials Science Engineering and soon found himself in South Carolina, where he worked in the steel industry for Nucor Corporation.
“A lot of people joke sometimes, ‘You're from Pittsburgh, but you moved out of Pittsburgh to go work in the steel industry?” Gerson said with a laugh. “But I had some really great internships with Nucor Steel, and it just seemed like a great foundational role and industry to join coming out of coming out of undergrad.”
Gerson moved up the ladder and moved around the eastern seaboard, specializing in metallurgy in roles for Nucor, Alcoa, and Element Materials Technology. He appreciated the opportunity to learn from different companies and work in different roles. But as he mapped out his future, he felt his path was diverging from his initial plan.
“I was about five years into my engineering career and I was looking at five-year-plan or 10-year-plan, and other than gaining more supervisory experience, I was going to be continuing down a very technical path,” he said. “But I felt my interests were just evolving. I don't want to say they fully changed, because I am still interested in the sciences, right?”
Gerson wanted to find a way to enter the business world. To do so would require a pivot from his initial education. So, he went back to a place he trusted – Carnegie Mellon.
Not only was it a strong academic school with plenty of connections, but it was where he met his wife, Alexandra. They both entered the MBA program, earned their degrees, and landed jobs. After a stop at Deloitte Consulting and with Ernst and Young, he’s now the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Execution for Citibank. And while he may be in the business world, he’s still using his math and science skills on a regular basis.
“I hear it all the time from my direct boss -- I think the way I approach and structure a problem is different than someone who just comes up from a traditional finance or business background,” he said. “It's just the ability to push through challenges, and get things done. Not fall in love with creating a perfect solution or solving a problem perfectly. But sometimes the 90% answer is the right thing for the company, to solve that problem and then move on to other things that are burning.”
Nearly two decades after his own graduation, Gerson is still grateful for his time at Steel Valley. It’s a special place, he said, and being asked to speak at commencement left him honored and thrilled. During his speech to the Class of 2025, he encouraged the graduating class to be lifelong learners. Staying curious and exploring opportunities will empower anyone to make a succesful pivot, just like he did.
“When you come out of undergrad or come out of high school, you think you have to have all the answers,” he said. “Fortunately, there are a lot of opportunities - whether it's going back to school or just doing a hard pivot without the extra credentials – that just open the aperture of what’s available to you. Hopefully that takes the pressure off folks from thinking that they have to make this one decision which will impact the rest of their lives so much.”