Smeal and Scholar alum Uma Moriarity receives Penn State Alumni Achievement Award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –– Penn State Smeal College of Business and Schreyer Honors College alumna Uma Moriarity was one of 10 Penn Staters to receive the University’s Alumni Achievement Award in March. The award recognizes alumni 35 years of age and younger for their extraordinary professional accomplishments.

Moriarity began her professional career as a business analyst at Exxon Mobil, where she developed a strong foundation in corporate finance and analytical strategy. She joined CenterSquare Investment Management as an investment strategy analyst in 2017.

Today, Moriarity is senior investment strategist and global head of sustainability. She focuses on firmwide investment strategy and thought leadership across public and private real estate platforms. As global head of sustainability, Moriarity leads the firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, integrating sustainability considerations into investment decision-making and asset management.

Moriarity is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute, as well as a LEED Green Associate. She serves on the Penn State Board of Trustees, the Penn State Smeal Sustainability Advisory Board, the board of Green Building United and the FTSE EPRA Nareit Americas Regional Advisory Committee.

She is a regular guest panelist on national media outlets to discuss her investment strategy views and publishes her thought leadership in a variety of industry publications.

Her professional excellence has also been recognized with the Schreyer Outstanding GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Alumni Award and GlobeSt.com’s Women of Influence Award in the Investment Professional/Owner category, both in 2024.

Moriarity said two things have shaped her career: a desire to create meaningful impact and an intellectual curiosity that never really turns off.

“My time at Penn State truly brought those ideas to life and taught me how to apply them at scale,” she said.

Moriarity earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 2014 from Penn State Smeal. She said that receiving the award was particularly meaningful because it reflects recognition from a community that helped shape who she is.

“Penn State, and specifically Schreyer and Smeal, played a foundational role in my development, not just academically but in how I think about leadership, impact and responsibility,” she said. “To be included among alumni who are doing meaningful work that’s impacting the world is both an honor and a reminder to continue pushing myself to contribute in ways that matter.”