Swanson School Recognizes Tracey T. Travis as its 2024 Distinguished Alumna
Above: Tracey T. Travis accepts her award via prerecorded video.
The University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering feted its 2024 class of Distinguished Alumni on Wednesday, April 10 at the University Club. Recognized as this year's top honoree was Tracey T. Travis BSIE ‘83.
“It is my honor to present Tracey Travis, industrial engineering PhD Class of 1983, with our Distinguished Alumni award for the Swanson School of Engineering,” said Sanjeev G. Shroff, Interim U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering. “Tracey is a remarkable alumna who, like others here tonight, leveraged the principles of systems engineering to become one of the world’s most recognized businesspersons. Her first job was an engineer at General Motors, and she thought her career would continue in operational management.
"In an interview last year with Fortune Magazine, she said that when taking her first class toward her MBA at the Columbia Business School, she fell in love with finance. At General Motors, she would pivot to the company’s financial areas, including joining the controller’s staff. Later at Pepsi-Co, she said another transformational point occurred when she CFO at one of the Company’s business units - the chief operating officer offered her the general manager position. She said that, at that time, ‘There weren’t very many women general managers, and certainly none that had done a cross-functional role from finance and general management.’ Thanks to those incredible opportunities, Tracey would later enjoy more than two decades in financial leadership at Estée Lauder Companies. There she has helped to expand their global success in new business, cost savings, and process improvement, among others. Tracey is also a mentor to women in business and an inspiration to young women.”
About Tracey T. Travis
Tracey T. Travis has been Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Estée Lauder Companies since August 2012, with responsibilities for Global Finance, Accounting, Investor Relations, Information Technology, and Strategy and New Business Development. Ms. Travis also co- leads the company’s major cost savings and process improvement initiatives. Previously, Ms. Travis was Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Ralph Lauren Corporation, with responsibilities for Global Finance, Accounting, Tax and Treasury, and Business Development, as well as Investor Relations and Information Technology. In both roles, she has successfully led and supported multiple acquisitions, the development of enhanced capital structures and shareholder returns, and technology transformations.
Previously, Ms. Travis was with Limited Brands in Columbus, Ohio as Chief Financial Officer of Intimate Brands Inc. and as Senior Vice President of Finance for Limited Brands (2001-2004); Chief Financial Officer of the Americas Group of American National Can (1999-2001); and various management positions at PepsiCo/Pepsi Bottling Group (1989-1999).
Ms. Travis currently serves as a director on the Board of Accenture PLC and the Board of Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly, Facebook), and previously served on the Boards of Campbell Soup Company (2011-2017) and Jo-Ann Stores Inc. (2003-2011) where she also chaired the Audit Committee. She is a member of the Board of Overseers for Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, and recently served as a trustee on the Board of the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, she serves as a director on the Board of Lincoln Center Theater in New York the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2019, Ms. Travis became a member of the Economic Club of New York.
Ms. Travis was recognized in 2005 by Treasury and Risk magazine as one of the “Top 25 Women in Finance,” and in 2012 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Finance.” In 2008, she was granted the Best CFO award by Institutional Investor magazine. She has been named one of the “Top 100 African Americans in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine, and in 2019, she was included on the publication’s list of “The Most Powerful Women in Corporate America.” In 2011, Ms. Travis was asked to serve as an inaugural member of the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Forum. In 2016, she received Legal Momentum’s Aiming High Award, and in 2019, she was honored with an Achiever Award by Cosmetic Executive Women.
Ms. Travis received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in Finance and Operations Management from Columbia University.