Anna Hallac grew up in Chappaqua, New York, with a curiosity about how the world works and the discipline to pursue that curiosity in depth. She came to the University of Pennsylvania as a student in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER), drawn by the program’s focus on energy systems and its rigorous scientific foundation.
By May of 2025, Hallac had earned her bachelor’s degrees in physics and materials science. Rather than moving on immediately after graduation, she chose to continue at Penn to complete her master’s in materials science. With only a few courses remaining, the decision reflected a practical mindset as much as an academic one: finish the work she had already begun, deepen her technical skills and keep future options open.
Returning for the master’s degree felt less like a single decision than a natural next step. Hallac had already started graduate-level coursework and found she enjoyed the project-based structure, particularly the way classes mirrored professional environments. The degree also offered flexibility she valued. With family ties in Europe and a mother spending more time there, earning a master’s would make it easier to pursue international opportunities.
That advantage became clear when Hallac secured an internship in Germany, an opportunity she says would likely not have been possible without being a master’s student. She worked at E.ON, an energy company, on an in-house consulting team. The role involved real clients, firm deadlines and meaningful responsibility. Hallock managed a workstream within a larger project, developed recommendations and contributed to proposals and deliverables. The experience sharpened her approach to problem-solving, skills she continues to draw on in courses that require students to organize complex, unstructured problems into clear plans.
After graduation, Hallac is heading to Jefferies, where she will work in mergers and acquisitions investment banking. The path from physics to finance may seem unexpected, but for her it developed step by step. Before her time in Germany, she interned in investment banking with little prior exposure to finance. What she did bring was a strong background in energy from VIPER, which became her entry point.
Working with a power-focused team, she contributed to projects involving renewable energy and natural gas. She found she enjoyed the quantitative rigor and structure of financial modeling. Midway through the summer, she began working more closely with the mergers and acquisitions group. The fit, both professionally and personally, was right. She received a return offer and ultimately accepted a full-time role in M&A.
Throughout her time at Penn, Hallac speaks about the Department of Materials Science and Engineering with deep appreciation. She values the department’s small size and close-knit community, as well as the breadth of its curriculum. For her, the program provided a well-rounded engineering education and the confidence to move across disciplines, offering tools rather than prescribing a narrow path.
Asked what she would tell her 18-year-old self, Hallac does not point to a dramatic lesson. Instead, her advice is simple and durable: you do not need to have everything planned from the start. Stay open, work hard and keep learning. Much of the pressure she felt came from within rather than from the institution. With perspective, she has come to see uncertainty as normal, as long as it is paired with purpose.
That sense of purpose was evident in her senior design project. Hallac and her team focused on end-of-life tires, approaching them as both an environmental challenge and a materials opportunity. The project had two components. The first explored processing used tires into hard carbon that could serve as a conductive anode material for batteries, including sodium-ion and lithium-ion systems. The second examined tire toxicology, studying how tire particles affect wildlife and human health using embryonic zebrafish. The findings were striking and raised significant concerns.
The project earned the Social Impact Prize at the Penn Engineering competition and quickly drew attention. Lawyers encouraged the team to pursue patents, consultants saw commercial potential and industry voices recognized the idea’s promise. Even as team members moved on to full-time jobs, doctoral programs and time abroad, they continued the work. They incorporated a company called TreadCycle, focusing on the tire-to-battery-materials concept.
Since then, the team has toured Honeywell’s gigafactory, met with representatives from Pirelli, refined business plans and pitch materials and connected with researchers whose work originally inspired the idea. Hallac has taken on the unglamorous but essential work of meeting with potential funders, gathering feedback and iterating on the concept, learning what it takes to turn a student project into a sustainable venture.
Alongside these ambitions, Hallac values the traditions and community that shaped her experience at Penn. She speaks fondly of department events that helped foster connection. Her class helped sponsor the yearly dining event sting honoring Dr. David Pope, reflecting a culture that values the people who built the department and the importance of carrying that spirit forward.
Outside the classroom, Hallac competed on Penn’s ski team, racing through injuries that included a broken ankle and a lingering sprain she continues to rehabilitate. She later became a ski instructor in Switzerland, teaching even very young racers. Proficient in German, she earned her instructor certification in Swiss German so she could teach comfortably in both languages.
Her time in Switzerland is also personal. Hallac’s mother was born and raised there, and her family history is tied to chocolate. Her mother grew up above a chocolate factory, and her grandfather was a chocolatier. Although the family no longer owns the brand associated with their name, the legacy remains. Hallac does not make chocolate herself, but she knows good chocolate well, and family tools and molds remain in her home as reminders of that history.
Taken together, Hallac’s experiences, spanning physics and materials science, consulting and finance, entrepreneurship, athletics and family tradition, reflect a consistent through line. She has focused on mastering fundamentals, respecting craft, staying curious and building a life that can move across disciplines and borders without losing its roots.