As one of the only women in a crowd of men, she stood out. Peggy Scott knows what it is like to begin a career in business during the mid-1970s, full of anxiety and learning how to communicate in a male-dominated world. As the executive vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, she is one of the 2008 inductees into the E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction. Her business journey began at the University, where she started her education in a career choice with only a handful of other women. Scott said she always knew she wanted to go into business and was surprised when she entered the college and found very few women there. “It never occurred to me that there weren’t a lot of females in the business world,” she said. Scott came to the University on an academic scholarship. She said she had to work hard to keep her GPA well above a 3.0 to keep her scholarship. “I didn’t fail any courses, but I definitely struggled in Shakespeare’s plays course,” she said. Scott said she did well in English, but the class required her to know all of Shakespeare’s plays and she struggled in it. Scott’s father died when she was young. Her mother always supported her and remained optimistic throughout her business education. “My mother’s motto was ‘If guys can do it, you can too,'” she said. Another influential person in her life was her faculty advisor, Dr. Dan Kyle. Scott said Kyle took a special interest in her and advised her to pursue a degree in accounting. He also encouraged her to start her career in public accounting as a public consultant. She followed his advice and after she graduated with honors in 1973, she began her first job at a national public accounting firm know called KPMG. At her second job at Deloitte, she advanced to full partner and office managing partner. “That’s where I worked my way up from the cubical to the corporate office,” she said. Scott said most students do not realize how all senior executives had to work their way up. As a woman, Scott describes her struggle of walking into a room full of men and knowing how to communicate effectively. She said it was hard enough just to be seen because of her short height. Despite being thrown into a business world where she stuck out, her greatest struggle has been to find balance in her life. Juggling a career, a company along with balancing family is a struggle, Scott said. She has been married to one of her college professors since her junior year in college. Balancing her career with her family is not easy but it is possible, she said with a laugh. Some of her accomplishments include working as CFO for the General Health System in Baton Rouge as well as the executive vice president of Operations and Finance. Scott said she is honored and pleased with the recognition she has been given, such as being inducted into the American Institute of CPA’s Business and Industry Hall of Fame and her recent induction into the Business College Hall of Distinction. “In the end, I am most proud of the people I have been able to work with throughout my career,” she said. To encourage future business leaders, she advised students to be persistent throughout their education. “I think the doors are wide open and the opportunities are limitless,” she said. Scott continues to give back to the University through serving on the Dean’s Advisory Council and chairing the Academic Committee. She said she is still committed to LSU’s success. “I went to into LSU as a shy young woman and came out a much more confident woman,” Scott said.
—-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]