The Top MBAs Name Their Favorite Business School Professors

Help Students See The World Differently

“Teck Ho, the pricing professor at Haas, [was my favorite professor]. Not only is he an expert in his field, but he also has this incredible passion for teaching. His excitement is infectious, which keeps us all fully engaged and eager to learn. He also conveys the fundamentals in a way that changes your view on the role of pricing in business—something that I always hope to gain in a course. He makes us see things differently.” – Nikita Mitchell / University of California-Berkeley, Haas School of Business

“[My favorite was] Professor Marc Ventresca, teaching “Strategy & Innovation.” As a Stanford Ph.D., he opened our eyes to the short-term and long-term changes and technological disruption that will shape various industries. From global financial markets to artificial intelligence or the internet of everything – his seemingly infinite knowledge about many fields made his classes truly fascinating. And even beyond class settings, Marc somehow always finds time to take a personal interest in his students’ well-being. I will never forget the hour-long conversations we had, long after the official class had already ended.” – Daniel Drummer / Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

“Wes Longhofer is my favorite professor because I admire his commitment to understanding the social and corporate responsibility of businesses within society. Through our analysis of events like the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh, the accountability breakdown within global supply chains, and the argument of sustaining the common good in order to maximize shareholder value, Wes provided me with the opportunity to evaluate the ways in which businesses can empower social good and also endanger it.” – Naomi Johnson / Emory University, Goizueta Business School

“Bala Balachander has been my favorite professor to date. He helped me see marketing as more of a strategic role where I can utilize financial information at hand, but also consumer behavior, to establish pricing strategies to capture loyalty, brand and share. He is one of the primary reasons I pursued Target’s Brand Management position so aggressively. As the first Krannert MBA to work in this particular segment at Target, I hope to recruit more of Krannert’s finest.” – Eric Barajas / Purdue University, Krannert School of Management

“Ranga Ramanujam is one of the most thoughtful professors at Owen, unafraid to bring in concepts from other disciplines when business fails to tell the whole story. He challenges you to think about seemingly trivial decisions (e.g., why you selected the group members you did) and confront personal biases. He is also a passionate researcher who is working to understand operational failures in healthcare. The school and the industry need him and his courageousness.” – Gina Bruno / Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

“Hart Posen (Strategy professor) – Strategy is a very interesting topic, where there may not always be a “right” answer. Hart pushes students outside of their comfort zone and helps them to think of strategy differently. Hart is also extremely supportive of students and their learning journey, and he is very actively involved in the MBA community at UW.” – David Hanley / University of Wisconsin School of Business

“Amy Wrzesniewski, who taught the “Careers” course in the 1st year core and does fascinating research on the psychology of choices we make in professional contexts, the interplay between work and identity, and how jobs take on meaning for us. Her class fundamentally changed how I view my career – not as an end-game to be uncovered, but as a series of experiences that will unfold into itself. At the end of every class, Amy asks students to write their thoughts about class on note cards, reads every one of them, and emails students with her ideas and recommendations for follow-up reading. That sort of attention to the student experience blew me away. Thankfully, she recently got tenure so SOM students will benefit from her dedication for years to come.” – Benjamin Freedman / Yale School of Management

 

“Costas Markides (strategy professor). He brings such energy and enthusiasm to his classes. Each class flew by because he spoke with passion, an incredible knowledge of strategy and business, and this was very motivating (and inspiring!).” – Anne-Marie Kruk / London Business School

“Professor Sunder Kekre. Professor Kekre is an incredibly devoted professor and a true friend to many students, faculty and staff. His Operations Management course is one of the most popular classes at Tepper. Professor Kekre has a keen ability to integrate real world experience and knowledge of current business developments into engaging and relevant coursework. He lectures with such passion that beads of sweat are a common place on his forehead during lectures. It is apparent to all that he loves what he does and takes pride in helping students learn. Laptops and cell phones are seldom seen in his class as students are clearly engaged.”

While Professor Kekre is an amazing lecturer, it is not what makes him my favorite professor. What makes him my favorite professor is his true devotion to students and his public displays of humility. While I was enrolled in Professor Kekre’s class, his mother feel ill. He was transparent with the class that his mother was ill and shared details of his close relationship with her. Over the coming weeks following this announcement his mother fell progressively ill and passed away. Leading up to his mother’s passing, Professor Kekre showed an extreme commitment to students by continuing to show up for class and lecturing with the usual passion.

Only days after Professor Kekre’s mother passed, he showed up to class to lecture as he usually does. At the beginning of the lecture he took a moment to share the news with all of us. His voice was weak and as he began to share the news he began to cry. There was a silent pause as Professor Kekre battled the tears. Within moments all 40 students in the class stood up in unison and went to the front of the classroom to embrace him. It was one of the most impactful and beautiful displays of vulnerability and community that I have ever seen. Professor Kekre chose, during a very difficult time, to be present for his students above all else. He took the risk of sharing something incredibly personal with us and we were all deeply grateful and moved. While he is one of my favorite professors, he is also someone that I deeply respect for his selflessness and humility.” – Alexander Brown / Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

Passionate Inside The Classroom

Assistant Professor Matthew Weinzierl currently teaches the second-year elective Role of Government in Market Economies. I have never met someone with Matt’s energy, enthusiasm, and passion for his subject. Every class, he is on fire. I learn more in each class than I’ve learned in entire semesters in college. His ability to bring complicated material to life is absolutely unmatched.” – Ali Huberlie / Harvard Business School