Scott Murff’s circuitous journey to becoming an associate teaching professor of strategy at the BYU Marriott School of Business has surprised him. Looking back, Murff has seen how a series of experiences, jobs, and even failures continually prepared him for the next steps in his journey.
Murff says that one of the most formative and transformational experiences of his life happened while he was a student at Brigham Young University. “My freshman year at BYU, I was kind of a broody teenager,” he recounts. But Murff gradually saw a change in his countenance as he committed to read the Book of Mormon each day in preparation to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I read, generally for an hour, before I would ever do a stitch of homework,” Murff recalls. “The Book of Mormon just completely went through me, and I had a very real conversion to the gospel and a very real transformation of who I was as a person.”
That conversion remained ingrained in Murff throughout his mission in San Jose, California, and later career experiences. After graduating with a degree in economics from BYU, Murff landed a research analyst job for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, DC. Murff worked in DC for three years before returning to Utah, where his wife earned an MBA from BYU Marriott and Murff went to work at Zions Bancorporation.
In his new position, Murff drew on his experiences as a research analyst. “The part of the government I worked for was responsible for regulating banks, and this was in 2009 when I started working in DC,” explains Murff, referencing the Great Recession. “Having that experience set me up well to help Zions Bancorporation through that heavy regulatory environment after the recession and help them comply with all the federal rules.”
While working at Zions Bancorporation, Murff decided he also wanted to continue his education and perhaps pursue a career in academia. Murff applied to BYU’s graduate statistics program, but when he wasn’t accepted, he began exploring other programs. “That ended up being a blessing in disguise, and one of those moments where God had a little bit of a different journey for me,” Murff says.
Murff soon found himself at Stanford University pursuing a master’s degree in management science and engineering. He was drawn to that program because of the integration of both business and math.
After completing his master’s degree, Murff began working as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Silicon Valley. But Covid struck soon after the Murffs moved to California. His family felt they needed to move back to Utah, where Murff shifted to working remotely for McKinsey.
Living near BYU again inspired Murff to once again pursue his dream career in academia. He began periodically searching for part-time teaching positions that he could do while continuing to work remotely for McKinsey. He landed an adjunct position at BYU Marriott and, three years later, accepted a full-time teaching position. In the summer of 2025, Murff will also become the strategy program director, taking over for Ben Lewis.
Murff brings experience from his consulting career to the classroom to help prepare BYU Marriott students for their own professional journeys. “The strategy program places many of its students in consulting or product management roles, and I had all of those experiences at McKinsey,” Murff says. “I love the people and the content that I teach.”
But Murff isn’t just sharing industry insights in the classroom—he also enjoys telling students about his freshman-year experience with the Book of Mormon. “That foundational, transformational experience set me on a course,” Murff says. “I’ve had some really hard moments since then, but that experience was strong enough to where I clung to my faith through my hardest moments and continue to cling to it.”
Even with his experiences—both spiritual and professional—Murff still views himself as a student. “The thing I love most about teaching is twofold,” Murff explains. “I get to do a lot of learning myself, and it’s really fun to be on the journey of discovery and learning with my students.”