Best 40-Under-40 Professor Wendy Marcinkus Murphy

Wendy Marcinkus Murphy  

Associate Professor of Management

Age:  39

Institution: Babson College, Olin Graduate School of Business

Since: 2011

Before current institution:  Northern Illinois University

Hometown:  Dover, MA

Marital status:  married

Children:  Twin daughters (6 years old) and a son (3 years old)

Education:

Boston College, Ph.D., Organization Studies

Boston College, M.S., Organization Studies

Boston College, A.B., Psychology & Studio Art

Courses currently teaching:  Organizational Behavior, Managing Talent

Fun fact:  Backpacked Europe by myself before starting grad school

Professor you most admire:  Karen Rosen, who when I requested a recommendation asked, “Why an MBA?” I left her office after two hours of applying to PhD programs. Judy Gordon, who chaired my dissertation and showed me that good teaching and good research do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Most memorable moment as a professor:  Walking into my first class on the first day of my first academic job five months pregnant with twins. Students were worried I wouldn’t make it through September. My delightfully healthy daughters slept through every class and were born three days before the final exam.

“If I weren’t a B-school professor…” I would be a painter.

Twitter: @wcmurphy

Students say: 

A leader is someone who listens first before speaking and effectively engages with the audience. Professor Murphy understands the importance of hearing students’ voices and opinions as a way of not only engaging the class but getting the most out of course topics. As an organizational behavior professor, her emotional intelligence and ability to engage students serves as a strength in the classroom as she focuses on understanding each of her students and catering to their learning styles. Professor Murphy embodies the traits of a great leader by revealing her genuine interest in the lives of her students.

-Will Hallock, Babson Undergraduate, Class of 2014

Many MBAs adopt a tunnel-vision approach to planning out their futures, focusing on a single end point, be it a company, a location, or a job title. Those at Babson College are lucky to have Wendy Murphy step in. Murphy’s week-long Managing Talent core curriculum course forces students to step back and holistically assess their strengths, aspirations, and relationships. Students are encouraged to become more self aware and to recognize and appreciate diversity in the classroom and workplace. Students leave the intensive learning experience with a career development plan.

Murphy’s research into developmental networks and mentoring, identity, and the work-life interface no doubt enhances MBAs’ classroom experiences. Her forthcoming book with Kathy Kram, Strategic Relationships at Work: Creating your circle of mentors, sponsors, and peers for success in business and life, takes this research a step further and demonstrates how students, or anyone for that matter, can cultivate key networks to boost their odds of success.

Her work has also appeared in the Academy of Management Learning and Education, Journal of Management and the Journal of Vocational Behavior.