The Favorite Professors Of Top MBAs

A few of the favorite professors singled out by top MBA graduates

You wouldnā€™t expect Richard Sloanā€™s classes to be such a hit at UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Normally, Haas students lumber through financial statements and valuations on their way through Haas’s ā€œCleantech to Marketā€ or ā€œThe Lean Launch Pad.ā€ Letā€™s face it: Accounting is often the course that MBAs dread. Thatā€™s what makes this endorsement by MBA graduate John Moore, one of Sloanā€™s students in ā€œFinancial Information Analysis,ā€ so striking.

ā€œStrangely enough,ā€ he admits, ā€œSloan motivated me to WANT to read 10-Ks in my spare time.ā€

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE

How did Sloan achieve that feat? According to Moore, it stems from the carefully-honed strategy of a master teacher. ā€œHe knew exactly where his students would struggle and designed his exercises to reflect the challenges they faced. Plus, his real-time examples and Australian accent kept us engaged.ā€

The accent may be the finishing touch, but Sloanā€™s philosophy is grounded in a rigor that bridges the gap between theory and practice. Thatā€™s why his classes are a blend of cases that reflect what practices are relevant now and exercises that point toĀ where the field may be headed. ā€œWeā€™ll follow companies like Apple, Tesla, and Salesforce throughout the semester,ā€ Sloan tells Poets&Quants. ā€œThe students can have world class discussions to decide what we think will happen in certain situations. They get to make the decisions in real time rather than just getting some war story after the fact.ā€

Haas’ Richard Sloan

Sloanā€™s classes are often described as ā€œstudent-centric.ā€ However, this label masks a key ingredient in their success: The teacher is only as good as his students ā€” and Sloan enjoys a dream audience at Haas. ā€œThe students have a very positive and constructive attitude,ā€ he shares. ā€œThey really seem to want to bring out the best in the professor, so I feel free to experiment in the classroom. That allows me to find and perfect ways to get the material across. When I do that, they reward it and that gives me the incentive to invest in doing even more.ā€

EMORY PROF WORKS THE PHONES TO FIND JOBS FOR LAID OFF STUDENTS

Professors are sometimes the most underrated part of the MBA experience. They are the value-adds who can turn an education from a commoditized degree to a transformative mission. Often, they go above-and-beyond in acts both sweeping and small. Take J.B. Kurish, a ā€œcharismaticā€ finance professor whose helpfulness has become the stuff of legend at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. When Adam Parker attended a summer event in New York City last summer, Goizueta alumni regaled him with tales of Kurishā€™s generosity.

ā€œI heard stories from 2009 graduates who all had their offers revoked weeks before graduation due to the financial crisis,ā€ he recounts. ā€œEvery single one of them landed on their feet due to the dedication of J.B. He tirelessly worked the phones, calling on former co-workers, alums, and friends of friends until he found his students jobs.ā€ However, such accounts only reinforced what Parker already knew about Kurish. ā€œThis devotion to studentsā€”from 8 a.m. Saturday review sessions to opening up his Rolodex to find students jobsā€”makes J.B. Kurish my favorite MBA professor.ā€

Youā€™ll find MBA students doling out similar stories about those professors who sparked their imagination, shaped their viewpoints, or lent a helping hand or sympathetic ear. Haasā€™ Ross Levine once delivered such a powerful lecture on the root causes of the 2008 financial crisis that students ā€œbroke out in applause at the endā€ according to student Kelly Deutermann. Dr. Emil Pitkinā€™s passion for statistics was so profound that it drove Whartonā€™s Kyle Brengel to major in business analytics. At Notre Dame, Joe Holt left an enduring mark on Sylvia Banda as well. ā€œHe is one of the smartest and most selfless individuals I met during my MBA experience. He challenged me to not simply think about the easy decisions I can make as a leader, but rather the right decisions.ā€

A TASKMASTERā€¦WITH A HEART OF GOLD

What makes a great business professor? During our nomination process for the ā€œBest & Brightestā€ graduating MBAs this year, we asked the Class of 2017 to answer just that. In the process, one theme consistently emerged: There are many avenues to excel in the classroom and make a difference in the lives of tomorrowā€™s business leaders.

London Business School’s Keyvan Vakili

Some bring out the best in their students by acting as demanding taskmasters. Stanfordā€™s Keith Hennessey, the former U.S. National Economic Council Director during the second Bush administration, might fit that description. On his first day of class, recalls Kate Archibald, he tells students, ā€œI will challenge you, I will make you work hard, and I will hold you to a high intellectual standard, but I will never intentionally embarrass you.ā€ Hennessey more than lives up to these words, says Archibald ā€” and his students follow suit. ā€œThe quality of participation in his classes is always extremely high,ā€ she observes. ā€œDespite the fact that the workload for his classes is uniquely demanding (or perhaps because of it), many students return to take a second class.ā€

At London Business School, you wonā€™t impress Keyvan Vakili with arty acronyms and flighty phrasing that can muddle what students are really trying to say. Instead, his classes are seminars on how to speak plain and clear to the lay person.Ā  ā€œAs new first-year MBA students,ā€ confesses Alana Digby, ā€œwe were prone to indulging in jargon, but Dr. Vakili pushed us to say what we meant and contribute something new to the discussion rather than paraphrasing each other with fancy language.Ā  At the time, the class was stressful, but Dr. Vakili gave us all a hugely useful skill through his coaching.ā€

THE UNDERAPPRECIATED ART OF STORYTELLING

This tough love only works when professors can pull back the reins and build their students back up. Boston Universityā€™s Melvyn Menezes has turned such an approach into an art form. A marketing professor, Menezes would pull his students out of their comfort zones, emphasizing preparation and demanding conviction when making arguments. Ultimately, this methodology steels confidence in his students. ā€œBefore presenting to the CMO of P&G in the final round of a Marketing Case Competition at Harvard,ā€ recalls Antonio Jimenez, ā€œmy only thought was that I was not nearly as intimidated as I had been presenting in class to Professor Menezes.ā€

Booth’s James Schrager

Other professors earn praise for the eye-opening caliber of their research and lectures. That was the case for MITā€™s Simon Johnson, who was feted by Carolyn Escobar Kent for integrating ā€œcutting edgeā€ topics like blockchain startups into his lectures. ā€œHe puts an incredible amount of research and detail into his lectures and has an inclusive way of teaching,ā€ she observes. ā€œI can tell that he learns as much from teaching as we learn from him.ā€ Youā€™ll find a similar enthusiasm at Cambridge University with Philip Stiles, whose lectures on how behavior changes between individualistic and group settings is described as ā€œrivetingā€ by Anvi Shah. However, Shah adds that Stilesā€™ gift extends far beyond his knack for presentation. ā€œWhat was more important was his gentle yet firm demeanor coupled with a strong intent of ensuring every student left the classroom with something that they would find useful to put into practice in their upcoming careers.ā€

It isnā€™t always the ā€œwhatā€ that impressed this yearā€™s Best & Brightest MBAs. Sometimes, the ā€œhowā€ sends an equally powerful message. In his ā€œNew Venture Strategyā€ class at Booth, Andrew Ward learned from James Schrager that storytelling can be just as powerful as frameworks and concepts. ā€œEvery week, Jim told 2-3 stories about everything from chess masters to his children in order to teach us different business concepts,ā€ he explains. ā€œThe use of storytelling as a way of teaching allowed me to easily recall concepts Jim had taught us long after the quarter was over.ā€ In fact, Ward has applied the lessons he learned from Schrager to help the program itself. ā€œI have been using my role as an interviewer for the Booth admissions team to practice honing my storytelling abilities in order to make the Booth experience come alive for prospective students.ā€

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