Morales earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Robert Morris University and a Master of Business Administration from The Ohio State University.
He joined PPG in 1985 in the corporate controller's office at the Pittsburgh headquarters and advanced through finance and accounting assignments, including supervisor of shared accounting services at the Chillicothe, Ohio, shared services center and plant controller at the former PPG glass plant in Mount Zion, Illinois, before returning to Pittsburgh in 2000.