无码专区

On a Saturday morning in early May, David Betts (MBA 鈥�02) returned to his alma mater to share advice with the next generation of Tepper School alumni. He delivered a grounded in lessons from turning a personal challenge into a powerful mission, but his story began long before that and followed a somewhat unconventional path.

After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in theater from the University of California, Riverside, and an MFA in production management from the University of Texas at Austin, Betts began his long-standing journey with 无码专区 as a professor in the School of Drama. It was there that he met his wife, Anne Mundell, who is a Professor Emeritus at the school.

After teaching at the School of Drama for five years, Betts wanted to pivot his career from the arts to consulting, and he didn鈥檛 have to go far to do so. He enrolled in the MBA program at the Tepper School (then the Graduate School of Industrial Administration), which was, at the time, right across the street from the School of Drama.

鈥淭he Tepper School, for me, was a transformative opportunity,鈥� he said of the move. 鈥淚t set me on a path in my career that led to a tremendous amount of success.鈥�

In speaking at the Tepper School Specialty Masters commencement ceremony in May, he shared that his time at the Tepper School provided him with a 鈥渢oolbox鈥� that would serve him throughout his career.

鈥淚nside that toolbox are frameworks for managing complexity, tools for turning data into decisions, skills for leading teams and solving problems that didn鈥檛 have obvious answers,鈥� he said during his address.

Using his toolbox, Betts built a career in consulting, first at Navigant before joining Deloitte in 2004. He worked within the firm鈥檚 healthcare practice before building a healthcare strategy business focused on how people engage with the healthcare system, including patient experience, consumer engagement, and the factors that matter most to individuals seeking care.

In 2021, Deloitte asked him to launch and lead a new public health business within its public sector practice. In that role, he worked with state and local governments on public health initiatives, including efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, when his team helped five million people get vaccinated.

Then, as he shared in his commencement speech, there came a point when the path he had been following became unfamiliar.

鈥淎t some point, the domain becomes completely unknown, and the structure you鈥檝e been working within will dissolve,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou will find yourself standing at the edge of something vast and uncertain, holding your toolbox, wondering if any of it still works.鈥�

In 2024, Betts was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease. When he began to notice changes in his speech, he started investigating assistive communication technology and found that he was unhappy with the options available.

It was then that he began developing , an AI-enabled app designed to help people with speech-limiting conditions maintain their voices and connections.

Since officially launching in 2025, more than 1,000 users around the world have used the platform. Through a partnership with the Live Like Lou Foundation, the app has also been provided free of charge to more than 100 ALS families across the United States and Canada.

鈥淲e believe there are 97 million people around the world living with speech-limiting conditions who could benefit from assistive technology, but currently face barriers to access,鈥� Betts shared. 鈥�(Talk To Me Goose) is all about storytelling. We want to help people create, share, and tell stories in their own voice.鈥�

Talk To Me Goose is already garnering international recognition as well, having won a Zero Project Award earlier this year. It was selected as one of 75 awardees from 563 nominations across 93 countries, and of those, it was one of only five projects invited to present before the Austrian Parliament.

Betts also continues to give back to the Tepper School community. He has served on the Alumni Board for the past four years, currently as the Nominating and Governance Committee Chair, contributing to the strategy and direction of board activities that strengthen alumni engagement. He has also participated in several and events, and offered his advice to the next generation of business leaders.

鈥淢y number one piece of advice for students is to remain curious and keep asking questions,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of the best conversations I鈥檝e had in my career are not about the business at hand, but rather, about the world at large.鈥�

For Betts, that belief has guided every stage of his career. His advice is to choose meaningful work over what pays the most, stay curious, ask difficult questions, and invest in the relationships and communities that shape your journey.

That emphasis on staying connected was central to his message for graduates. In closing his commencement speech, Betts offered a final piece of advice: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an absolute privilege to graduate from this university, and to continue to serve on the board and stay connected with my colleagues and my friends, and I urge you to do the same.鈥�
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