Favorite Business School MBA Professors

Vanderbilt's Bob Whaley (Left)

Vanderbilt’s Bob Whaley (Right)

Offer Real World Experience

“Professor Mike Bond. He teaches Brand Management Strategy and his class is phenomenal. He worked for several years in industry as a brand manager at ConAgra on brands like Healthy Choice, Orville Redenbacher, and Chef Boyardee. Because of his industry experience, he brings a level of realism and hands on application that is hard to beat. He also does an excellent job of teaching general management fundamentals that apply regardless of what function or industry you are going into.”

–  Kirk Steele, Brigham Young University, Marriott School of Management

“I thoroughly enjoyed learning about investment management from Dr. Bob Whaley, the creator of the Volatility Index (VIX). Professor Whaley had the ability to clearly communicate the theoretical underpinnings and statistical tools used in sound portfolio analysis. He brought in some great guest speakers to give us perspective on different aspects of equities markets. He also had the entire class over to his house, which has a full Irish-style pub in the basement.”

– Dustin Rohrer, Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

Texas' Lisa Koonce

Texas’ Lisa Koonce

Simplify The Complicated

“The one who had the most patience with me was my Advanced Financial Accounting Professor, Lisa Koonce. She would send personal emails to everyone in class with specific feedback and words of encouragement. She was always responsive when students had questions or needed extra help. She turned complicated accounting topics like consolidating financial statements into understandable and relatable material. Professor Koonce exemplifies what it is to be a McCombs professor—incredibly sharp, focused on students, patient and accessible.”

–  Stephen deMan, University of Texas, McCombs School of Business

“Professor Vinayak Deshpande. Last year, I took two of his operations courses, Design and Delivery of Healthcare Systems and Sustainable Operations. Professor Deshpande is incredibly engaging. In his courses he deconstructs real-world business problems and thoughtfully presents them to the class for analysis. I was fascinated by the way he thought through complex challenges and found his courses incredibly compelling. He is an inspiring professor, whose ability to communicate puts a personal touch on operations, and makes it accessible to students of all backgrounds.”

– Caitlin Fross, University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School

“Professor Jane Davies, Professor of Operations and Head of our MBA program inspires me. She helped me and my class understand what goes behind excellent operations in a simple yet very effective manner. Learning the basics of how to integrate corporate and business strategy to build operational excellence has been amazing for me.”

– Dipika Sawhney, Cambridge Judge Business School

“My favorite professor is Rachelle Sampson, who teaches Managerial Economics and Public Policy and Sustainability: Economics and Strategy. She is incredibly effective at teaching students to deconstruct problems and solutions in a way that allows us to view situations in short-term and long-term effects and narrow and broad perspectives. She brings to the classroom a managerial focus that is not only colored by economic considerations, but by people, law, and environment as well – this diversity of teaching lenses is so valuable to my learning.”

Tiffany Chang, University of Maryland, Smith of Business

University of Chicago's Ira Weiss

University of Chicago’s Ira Weiss

Entertaining As Well As Enlightening

Ira Weiss has been my favorite professor at Booth. He teaches Taxes and Business Strategy – a class I did not expect when I read the title would ever be on my “favorites” list. Professor Weiss is a hilarious, well-structured lecturer who makes taxes interesting, practical, and fun. I believe I will be able to save both my future clients and myself money because of this class, and I’ll think of Professor Weiss’s clip art and Farside cartoons and smile while doing it.”

– Emily Ruff, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

“Professor Jim Hamilton taught our Sales Management class. He is my favorite professor because he is able to provide an innovative and interactive method of teaching that keeps the entire class engaged and on their toes. Professor Hamilton begins his class with a think fast riddle to get everyone’s mind alert. Then he continues with a real-life example of his own or his colleagues’ experiences and asks what the class would do if faced with the same situation; this helps build our knowledge for best practices. During the three hour lecture, he keeps the students engaged by running role plays of sales situations. With Professor Hamilton’s experience, he is able to role play different client or salesperson persona and is fantastic with improv. He selects students in class and gives them the freedom to accept or decline the challenge; most students will decline at the beginning but eventually get comfortable to do a sales role play with him. Throughout the course, he did this for different portions of the sales pitch and sales cycle. Even though it was a 7-10 p.m. class, everyone made an effort to always be present and kept engaged during the entire class.”

Mei Young, Queens University, Smith School of Business

Ohio State's Shashi Matta

Ohio State’s Shashi Matta

Shashi Matta, our program director, and core marketing professor. He managed to get me interested in what had been my least favorite subject as an undergrad, marketing. That was certainly no small feat and I think it serves as a testament to how engrossing he is in the classroom.”

John Petersen, Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business

Rolf Strom-Olsen was my Professor for Critical Management Thinking. Rolf’s style of teaching is immaculate and entertaining. His classes were unique (the infamous mobile and laptop ban for each class) and he encouraged us to think laterally and to challenge the status quo on an ongoing basis. His ability to translate conceptual thinking into business concepts and illustrate how past eras are still relevant today was fascinating. His classes can be described as unique and memorable, captivating students’ attention with his exceptional use of vocabulary and humor.”

– Michelle Beretti, IE Business School

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