Scully '72 named Morgan Stanley co-president

Laboring on the docks of Newark during summer breaks may not be the typical path to Wall Street fame and fortune. But last month's appointment of Bob Scully '72 to the co-presidency of Morgan Stanley marks the latest achievement of his successful career.

Rather than concentrating in a major that typically precedes a career in finance, Scully studied psychology at the University.

He also avoided investment banking internships, doing manual labor and delivering mail for the post office instead. Scully's involvement on campus, both as head of the Orange Key tour guides and as a member of Princeton Tower Club, honed his leadership skills.

At Tower, Scully devised a way to boost the quality and efficiency of food service by doing away with outside catering and streamlining staff organization.

Scully said that he was uncertain about his future career path upon graduation.

He briefly considered pursuing a clinical degree in psychology but eventually opted to work for a while. "I could always back to school, and decided I'd rather be something other than a student for a while," Scully said, referring to his decision to defer upon acceptance into Harvard Business School.

Still undecided about his future, Scully decided to get a job that might maximize his future career options.

"I thought that getting into finance would be a good way to explore many industries," Scully said.

He accepted a job at Chase Bank, which offered a thorough training program. "As a young investment banker, you work on very complex merger situations or on some financing situation of company to create more value for shareholders," Scully said.

While working, he took tax and accounting courses at NYU and later reapplied successfully to Harvard.

"I liked finance a lot, working on some important problems in dealing with senior business people in finance, and I concluded that it made sense to get an MBA if I wanted to pursue this career," Scully said.

Upon receiving his advanced degree in 1977, he returned to Wall Street.

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"I decided that this was what I wanted to do and worked at Salomon Brothers for eight or nine years, then Morgan Stanley for a decade," Scully said.

On working in the investment banking field for 30 years, he said, "The problems can be very challenging and multifaceted, and what's great is that you can have a very diverse career working with very bright people on some of the problems that companies face."

Scully, who now oversees Morgan Stanley's asset management and private equity business, offered a piece of general advice: don't look for a job but for a career, and find one that you're going to care about for 30 years.

"Careers are marathons. Do something you care about and have a skill set that enables you to thrive," he said.