Donor-Supported Opportunities Power Student’s Path to J.P. Morgan
Donor-Supported Opportunities Power Student’s Path to J.P. Morgan
By Abby Ann Ramsey Peters (’24)
In the three years he’s spent on Rocky Top, Scotty Brown (Class of 2027)—a finance major in the Haslam College of Business—has poured himself into every opportunity possible, and he hopes to one day give back to the university for all it has given him.
He’s a year away from graduating and starting a full-time career in investment banking, but he’s already started using his experiences to help those around him.
Brown grew up in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and didn’t necessarily picture himself at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He applied for the Haslam Leadership Scholars program anyway and had a change of heart after he visited campus for the program’s selection weekend.
“I really fell in love with UT,” says Brown. “I got a call from Mr. and Mrs. Haslam after that weekend and my decision was made.”
In his time at UT, Brown has studied abroad in Cuba through the Haslam College of Business and in Rwanda and Kenya through the Haslam Leadership Scholars program, which was founded in 2008 with a generous gift from the Haslam family. He completed a congressional internship with US Senator Bill Hagerty, and he most recently interned with Nashville-based Pinnacle Financial Partners in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst.
This summer, Brown will be an investment banking intern for J.P. Morgan in New York City, one of the first students from UT to do so in more than six years.
Scotty Brown devotes much of his time in the Haslam College of Business to helping other students pursue careers in the finance field.
Lighting the Way for Peers
With a robust resume and a busy schedule, Brown devotes much of his extracurricular time to his position as president of the Tennessee Capital Markets Society. The competitive organization helps business students with career preparation.
More often than not, students are applying to finance internships more than a year in advance, and Brown has experienced firsthand how hard it is to break through—something the Tennessee Capital Markets Society helped him with his sophomore year.
In his role as president, he focuses on mentoring students so that they can earn prestigious experiences like the ones he’s enjoyed.
“It’s a lot of work connecting students to resources and teaching them how to network and interview for these jobs, but then I’ll have students call me when they get their job, and that’s just the best feeling,” says Brown. “We had a record number of students land these highly competitive internships this year.”
Real-Time Data, Real Investments
Brown’s passion for lifting up others in the Haslam College of Business is evident not just in his mentorship work with the Tennessee Capital Markets Society but also in his day-to-day work with the college’s Torch Fund program, where he’s a portfolio manager.
“Scotty is always willing to help his classmates,” says Ryan Farley, an associate professor of practice in finance and the Torch Fund Program director. “He volunteers to take on some of the most demanding jobs for his Torch Fund and consistently offers thoughtful feedback on his teammates’ work.”
Torch Funds give students the experience of managing a real investment portfolio, each one of them funded by a private donor. Brown helps manage the portfolio made possible by Jim and Natalie Haslam.
“Because it is donor-supported, the Masters Investment Learning Center allows us to offer a level of experiential learning and professional development that extends well beyond the traditional classroom and meaningfully shapes student outcomes.”
Laura Seery Lenn, director of the Masters ILC
“The stakes are higher than if it was just paper trading, so it gives us that real-world experience,” Brown says. “That’s the kind of experience that helps us land those competitive jobs.”
Whether he’s helping Tennessee Capital Markets Society students with their resumes or teaching students how to use software, Brown spends most of his waking hours in the Masters Investment Learning Center, which is home to the Torch Funds and several student organizations.
He works in the center as a Bloomberg Analyst, and even if he’s not working, odds are you’ll find him there. Named for benefactor Michael W. Masters (’89), the center offers state-of-the-art Bloomberg terminals and screens full of real-time financial market data, news, and analytics. The center was funded entirely through private donations from several generous donors.
“The center plays a critical role in preparing students like Scotty for real-world experiences,” says Laura Seery Lenn, director of the Masters ILC. “Because it is donor-supported, the Masters ILC allows us to offer a level of experiential learning and professional development that extends well beyond the traditional classroom and meaningfully shapes student outcomes.”
Investing in the Volunteers
Brown spends countless hours in the center, but he knows his work and the contributions of donors will get him where he wants to be. He’s already on track with his past experience and his upcoming J.P. Morgan internship—he credits the support system within the college and alumni base for helping him make connections in the industry and gain the experience he needs to make an impact as an investment banker.
When Brown was searching for connections in the industry to help him land an internship, he sent more than 1,000 emails asking professionals to connect and heard back from about 13 percent of them overall. For the UT alumni who were in that group though, he heard back from nearly all of them.
“Our alumni are incredibly passionate and excited to try to help students get where they want to go,” says Brown.
“I had so many people—Tennessee alumni and others—who really poured into me as I was going through all the incredibly stressful recruiting processes. When I graduate, I want to be that person for others—the person students can reach out to who will be excited to help.”
Brown also sees himself working to grow the brand of UT in the finance world. Haslam College of Business offers state-of-the-art resources, and he gets excited seeing it climb the ranks and become a household name in the finance industry.
From the very beginning, the Haslam family has been right there supporting me. Their financial support means so much to me, but I think that how engaged they are with this program and with the students they’re supporting means just as much.”
Scotty Brown (Class of 2027)
The college was named a top 20 public undergraduate program and placed second in the SEC in Poets & Quants, and its graduate supply chain programs have placed in the top five among public universities in US News and World Report for seven consecutive years.
“The tides are turning, and we’re seeing more and more students from Tennessee break into these industries,” says Brown. “If I can have a hand at all in that and help, I’d love to.”
The Haslams have played a role in so many of Brown’s student experiences and his career readiness—especially the Haslam Leadership Scholars Program, which has allowed him to attend UT for free. Brown is grateful that each generation of the family takes the time to regularly have meals and meaningful conversations with the Haslam Leadership Scholars.
“From the very beginning, the Haslam family has been right there supporting me,” says Brown. “Their financial support means so much to me, but I think that how engaged they are with this program and with the students they’re supporting means just as much.
“They want to give us their time and their attention, and I think that just means the world.”
