Michelle L. Aitala, Ed.D.

Michelle Aitala currently serves as Interim Assistant Dean and Director, MBA Career Services for Marshall Career Services. Since 2016, she has served MBA candidates as an Associate Director, delivering career strategy, programming, and training to support and enhance career outcomes. She directs the MBA Peer Coach program and collaborates with Marshall Career Services leaders and colleagues to develop and execute key annual programming. Before joining USC Marshall School of Business, Michelle worked in career services positions at Loyola Marymount University, Lehigh University, and Villanova University. She has over 20 years of experience in university and private career coaching.

She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the USC Rossier School of Education, an MS in Counseling from Villanova University, and a BS in Psychology from Elizabethtown College. Her dissertation focused on understanding the experiences of belonging among African American students enrolled in an undergraduate business program. In addition, Michelle completed a professional certificate program at the UCLA Extension (Master of Interior Architecture equivalent) and spent over 13 years working in commercial architecture, interior design, and construction. She currently serves as a Trustee on the Board of The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.