Motherhood, Master’s and Merit: Leslie Oliver’s Journey from First MSSCM Cohort to Faculty

Leslie Oliver ’04 can still picture it perfectly: four children at home (the youngest six months old), a full-time job at Solar Turbines, and papers to write for the University of San Diego’s brand-new Master of Science in Supply Chain Management (MSSCM) program, where she was part of the inaugural cohort. 

“It’d be midnight and I’d be sitting there with my foot on the bouncer, rocking the baby, as I’m doing my paper,” Oliver recalls. “It was intense!”

More than 20 years later, that same determination has brought the alumna full circle. Now retired from Solar Turbines, Oliver is an adjunct professor in the same MSSCM program, bringing decades of global supply chain experience back to USD. 

A Series of Firsts

The first person in her family to get a college degree, Oliver put herself through San Diego State University, 10 years after high school, earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1997. That same year she accepted a position at Solar Turbines, which became her career home for almost 30 years. 

“When I was hired, I thought, how do I make sure that I know enough, and I can contribute?” Oliver says. “I started to take a lot of different certifications and training to bolster my knowledge base.”

Then, in 2002, an opportunity emerged. USD was developing its new Supply Chain Management master’s program, working with several corporations, including Solar Turbines. The company held a competition to give two employees the opportunity to earn their master’s degrees, fully paid for, and she was selected for the program.

Defining a New Field

The timing of Oliver’s graduate education was significant. “When I was hired at Solar, I really was in supply chain, but it wasn’t deemed supply chain management yet,” she says. The MSSCM program changed that, giving her the frameworks to articulate strategy, identify gaps, and prioritize focus areas.

She learned “literally every aspect, whether it be quality or planning or logistics or supply relationships,” she says. And, through it all, Oliver was balancing her full-time job with raising four young kids.

“You still have to do dinner time and story time and bedtime,” she says. “It just means that ‘mommy’s time’ is the education.”

The degree paid immediate dividends. Solar Turbines first tasked her with designing and implementing the global supply chain model in San Diego, then designing, deploying, and leading the supply chain across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She eventually led the entire global supply chain with worldwide accountability.

This work earned her a President’s Quality Award in 2009, followed by another in 2011 for Value Stream transformation.

Perspective Over Obstacles

In 2024, Oliver retired as Director of Enterprise Quality, Lean, and Enabling Technology–a female leader in a male-dominated company. 

“There are unique challenges to being a woman in oil and gas and power. Just be prepared to handle them in a professional, respectful way,” she says, adding, “so you can get through them–because you’re not going to get around them.”

Her approach has always been grounded in perspective. “Never let that define you,” she says. 

She was a finalist for the Women in Industry Visionary Award in 2013 and awarded the Society of Women Engineers SPARK Award for impactful mentorship in 2019.

Paying It Forward

Staying connected to USD, Oliver served on the board for the Supply Chain Management Institute, and worked with Professor Daniel Lin to develop the Supply Chain Academy professional certificate program–even taking it herself before enrolling numerous Solar Turbines coworkers.

When USD asked her to teach in the MSSCM program, “there was just no way for me to say no,” she admits. “I’m passionate about supply chain, I’m passionate about USD, I’m passionate about education being the one thing that can differentiate an individual from their past to their future.”

Her other passion is community service, which stemmed early on. “We were on welfare at times in my childhood,” she shares. “I had food insecurity, certainly financial insecurity, and I didn’t really see a lot of help. So, for me, it’s important to give back, and that we’re helping to make a better community.”

For almost 30 years, she’s been involved with United Way of San Diego County, now serving as Board Chair supporting programs focused on early childhood literacy, STEAM to careers, and financial literacy for families. She’s also a founding member and former Chair of Women United, and was named Volunteer of the Year in 2022 and 2026 by the North County Philanthropy Council and Board Nonprofit Leader of Influence of the Year in 2025. 

Oliver eagerly brings her passion and expertise in both supply chain and community engagement back to Knauss now to educate the next generation of leaders in the industry. 

Don’t Limit Yourself

For students entering supply chain management–particularly women–Oliver’s advice is grounded in her own experience juggling the impossible.

“Women often believe we can’t do it. We shouldn’t limit ourselves based on fears of the unknown but, instead, embrace our capability,” she says. “You can dream it and then you can make it happen.”

These days, when she isn’t teaching or volunteering, she’s got a different role. “I now have five children and five grandchildren,” she smiles. “Family and friends–that is what I do.”