Michelle L. Aitala, Ed.D.

Michelle Aitala, Ed.D. is an Associate Director of Graduate Career Services (GCS) at the Marshall School of Business. With over 20 years of experience in university and private career coaching, she guides students in the full-time MBA program as a career strategist, supporting their internship and post-graduation career goals. She directs the GCS Peer Coach Program and collaborates with GCS leaders and colleagues to develop and execute key annual programming. 

Currently, she serves as a Trustee on the Board of The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, whose mission is to increase enrollment of historically underrepresented students in MBA programs. Since 2020, Michelle has managed the career prep program that readies incoming MBA students and Consortium Fellows for early diversity recruiting opportunities.

Michelle completed her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership with a focus in Educational Psychology at the USC Rossier School of Education in 2024. Her dissertation focused on understanding the experiences of belonging among African American business students. She holds an MS in Counseling from Villanova University, and a BA in Psychology from Elizabethtown College. Additionally, she completed a professional certificate program (now the Master of Interior Architecture degree) at the UCLA Extension. She worked for 13 years in architecture, design, and construction before joining USC Marshall in 2016.