Penn State alumnus uses liberal arts background to succeed in finance industry

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State alumnus Taylor Nelson has exemplified the power of a liberal arts education since he graduated from the College of the Liberal Arts in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in criminology and a minor in information systems and statistical analysis.

Nelson, who is currently the director of non-performing loan (NPL) investments at PPR Capital Management (PPR), said his unconventional professional journey underscores the versatility and adaptability that a liberal arts education provides.

At Penn State, Nelson was like many criminology students who aspire to enter law school after graduation; it wasn’t until his third year of college that he decided to switch career paths and enter the corporate world.       

“Instead of changing my major, I tried to take as many STEM or business classes as possible,” Nelson said. “The computing and statistics option of my criminology degree required me to take a lot of computer science and math courses, so I was able to choose a minor that aligned with relevant coursework and gave me skills transferable to business.”

During this same time, Nelson was involved in the Liberal Arts Alumni Mentor Program, where he was matched with a mentor who helped him prepare for life after graduation. Nelson’s mentor was a business owner, so he was able to give Nelson valuable input on his resume and networking skills. Nelson visited him at his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, company, where he talked to different employees and developed the confidence needed to pitch his background, education and professional goals.

Right after graduation, Nelson entered PPR as an analyst. He didn’t know a lot about the investment management world at the time, but luckily, his liberal arts background had prepared him to learn on the fly. His boss, John Sweeney, co-founder, co-owner and current chief asset officer at PPR, advised Nelson on his first day of work to learn to “be a sponge.”

“When entering a new company, you have to soak up as much information as possible and talk to people even when you don’t work directly with them,” Nelson said. “It’s important to learn about other people’s roles at your company, how you might be able to help them and how they might help you. Go out of your way to ask questions, and try to be in the room when big decisions are happening.”

But, finding success at work isn’t just about hard work, Nelson said. It’s also about the company.

“Find ways to go above and beyond, but also make sure you’re with a company that rewards and recognizes its employees,” Nelson said.

At PPR, Nelson has played an instrumental role in growing the firm’s assets under management, from managing around $50 million in his first years with the company to “north of $800 million” in 2024. He credits such success to the opportunity to grow with PPR professionally as the company expanded, as well as the critical thinking and problem-solving skills instilled through his liberal arts education.

“The College of the Liberal Arts’ flexible curriculum was beneficial because I could write a paper for my 400-level criminology class and then switch to doing my calculus homework all within an hour. Those are two different skills, but they both involve critical thinking and problem solving, which I use at PPR,” Nelson said. “One day I might be reading legal contracts and trying to negotiate operating agreements, and then the next I am trying to build a complex financial model in SQL and Excel. I find that in my career I do a whole lot of different things with different skills, but they all come back to critical thinking and problem solving.”

In his new role, Nelson continues to steer PPR in growing his business vertical and its volume. He is focused on efficiently and consistently deploying capital and making above-average returns.

“I’m taking ownership of the vertical, the performance and the strategy. Previously, I played a big supporting role but ultimately was not responsible for it. Responsibility for the outcomes and not just the process is a big change,” Nelson said.

With more responsibility comes advancements in his role as a leader, something Nelson is happy to embrace. 

“I say that my day job is running the non-performing loan investment vertical, but on any given day, that could be only 50% of what I do,” Nelson said. “I’m involved with a lot of other things, whether that be with the finance and accounting team, the investment strategy team or the risk management side of the house. I add value to the entire company, not just my vertical.”