Betsy Turner

• School of International Affairs

• B.S. IAML 2004

Betsy Turner currently works as a partner at Martenson Hasbrouck & Simon LLP. Turner's previous professional experiences include president and partner of HGIC LLC, attorney at Meyer Moser Lang LLP, attorney at Freeman Mathis & Gary, and law clerk at the US District for the Northern District of Georgia. She has also received numerous awards including Georgia Institute of Technology Outstanding Young Alumni Award, AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star, and Georgia Trend Legal Elite for Labor and Employment.

How did Tech and the Nunn School help you get where you are?

Georgia Tech's most valuable assets are its students and alumni. The network I developed while at Georgia Tech and afterwards, through the Alumni Association, helped me attain my first job out of law school and has given me the opportunity to meet many people in numerous industries around Atlanta and the country. If I have an obscure question about an employee benefits issue or need an introduction to a business contact, I know I can use the Georgia Tech network to get the job done. In particular, the Sam Nunn School’s diverse group of students, professors, and alumni has helped to expand my Georgia Tech network even further.

What advice you would give current students at Georgia Tech as well as the Sam Nunn School specifically?

If I could go back to Georgia Tech, I would do an even better job of networking with students and alumni. I would join the Student Alumni Association and attend its alumni networking events. In addition, the professors in the Sam Nunn School are outstanding–I would get to know them better and take full advantage of all that I could learn from them. You never know when you may need a recommendation for a job or graduate school or just need to make a quick call to someone about Chinese monetary policy.

What is something that you got from studying International Affairs and Modern Languages at Tech?

What I have taken away most from my Nunn School classes is an appreciation for a world that is much larger than the state or country in which I live. This appreciation has helped me connect professionally and personally with people of other cultures. Although I am not working in a traditional International Affairs field, as a lawyer, almost every day I benefit from and utilize the analytical skills I gained through the Nunn School curriculum.