Career Coaches

Elizabeth is a Career Coach on the Career and Professional Development team where she works with full-time students, as well as alumni, to prepare them for telling their story in professional settings. She brings her background in academic advising to the position in order to successfully communicate with students on an individual level, as well as her extensive writing and editing experience to assist students in creating compelling resumes and cover letters. Elizabeth’s institutional knowledge of Pepperdine spans 8 years, where she has previously worked in the OneStop Office as a Student Administrative Services Advisor and in the PGBS Programs Office as an Academic Advisor before transitioning to the Career team in 2022. Additionally, Elizabeth serves on both the Staff Advisory Council and the Graziadio Diversity and Belonging Council here at Pepperdine. She recently completed her MA in Educational Leadership at CSU Channel Islands and holds BAs in Literature and Writing from Point Loma Nazarene University. Elizabeth loves spending time at concerts, reading for her book club, or hanging at home with her cat, Binx, and service dog, Edge.

Ken Murphy is the Director of Professional Programs and Alumni Career Services, working with all of our part time students and alumni across all degree programs. He is also the executive career coach for our Executive MBA, President/Key Executive MBA, Executive DBA, and MSOD programs.  Previously, Ken led PGBS career services for all full-time programs.  Prior to his arrival at Pepperdine in 2016, Ken served for more than twenty-five years in a wide range of executive roles in medium to large international corporations, and was the founder and CEO of several successful management consulting firms, where he led large-scale global projects and managed teams in multiple business functions, including HR, recruiting, talent management, organization development, leadership development, M&A integration, change management, and career development.  He has worked with dozens of fast-paced, rapidly changing global organizations in the high tech, R&D, manufacturing, healthcare, military, government and academic sectors. 

Having coached, mentored, and trained thousands of individuals over several decades, Ken has deep expertise in developing and implementing career transition strategies for those seeking to discover, accelerate, and achieve their professional goals and life purpose.  With family roots in the military and prior service as a senior staff officer in the California State Guard’s Officer Candidate School (California Military Department), Ken also has a passion for supporting veterans navigating the difficult transition from military to civilian life.  Ken also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology.  He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change at Pepperdine University, and holds a Master of Human Resources and Organization Development degree from the University of San Francisco, along with a B.A. degree in Psychology from Chapman University.