World’s Best B-School Professors: Jeremy Siegel

Jeremy Siegel

The Wharton School

 

Claim to Fame: Stocks for the long run

Age: 65

Education:

B.A. Columbia University Mathematics/Economics 1967,

Ph.D. Economics M.I.T. 1971

At Wharton Since: 1976

Before Wharton: Professor of Business Economics at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 1972-76

Fun Fact: Never took a course in finance or financial markets; learned the subject matter on my own.

If I wasn’t teaching, my dream job would be: Traveling, Consulting, and Lecturing, which is pretty much what I do when I’m not teaching.

Best part of the job: When you are walking in a strange city and a person comes up to you and says, “Prof. Siegel, you may not remember me, but I was in your class in such and such a year and found your course my most valuable at Wharton, and I want to thank you for the experience.”

Worst part of the job: Making up exams.  When you are a young professor, grading exams is even worse, but once you gain a certain age (and stature), the school gives you graders.  But I have found that making up exams cannot be delegated. Unfortunately, the burden of finding new interesting questions year after year becomes harder.

One of the most influential names at one of the most recognized business schools in the world is that of Professor Jeremy Siegel from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Siegel’s high calling is found in the world of investments where he has dedicated his research and teaching to strategic long-term investing. He examines the state of the economy and decodes it to form investment strategies for the savvy—yet ordinary—investor.

Siegel’s book, Stocks for the Long Run, is regarded as the Holy Grail of long-term investing. Whether you agree or disagree with his outlook (for every innovator there is an unbeliever), Siegel’s name in the financial sector is often likened to pure brilliance. To some he’s a guru, to others a genius, and generally he is known as one of the most astute financial minds of this time.

At Wharton, Siegel has exuded the same passion for financial markets since he began teaching at the school in 1976. Because of this zeal, the professor has received countless outstanding teaching awards and he is consistently recognized as one of the top business school professors in the world.

Students Say:

“Professor Siegel’s greatness as a teacher and instructor comes from his passion. He is endlessly fascinated with finance and the markets – and that enthusiasm is contagious. In addition, he has a gift of communicating so that his students (and others who read his work or hear him speak) gain insight.  Professor Siegel once said that, in the information age where data is plentiful, the value is in interpreting and distilling that data to knowledge and wisdom.  Professor Siegel practices that daily.” — Shaun R. Smith Wharton Undergraduate alumnus, 1995

“Professor Siegel’s passion for teaching about the financial markets and economy is both unrivaled at Wharton and strongly infectious to his students.   He uniquely and effortlessly combines macroeconomic theory with real world events–by walking students through recent events on all the financial markets on his Bloomberg terminal for the first part of every class. Professor Siegel’s unique gift in explaining the financial markets leaves students with an overwhelming sense that his class epitomized why they came to Wharton.” — Jeremy Schwartz – Wharton 2003 Undergraduate Alumnus

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