Favorite Business School MBA Professors by: Jeff Schmitt on August 17, 2016 | | 38,384 Views August 17, 2016 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Cornell’s David BenDaniel David J. BenDaniel thinks of being a graduate professor as the third act in his career. Previously a theoretical physicist and a senior executive with Exxon and Textron, BenDaniel has come full circle in his role teaching management and entrepreneurship at Cornell Universityās Johnson Graduate School of Management. āIāve had the taste of being a corporate manager, doing deals, and having people report to me,ā he tells Poets&Quants. āI had the opportunity to be sort of a fuzzy headed intellectual at an early stage when I got my Ph.D. Now, Iām trying to put these things together and be a good teacher and perhaps role model for students.ā TEACHING REFLECTS REAL WORLD REALITIES He was easily both in the eyes of Nadine Thornton, a 2016 joint JD-MBA graduate at Cornell who was named among this yearās ‘Best & Brightest’ MBAs. During her time at Cornell, she served as his teaching assistant for two classes and admired his passion and deft use of experiential learning. Thornton admired him for his āinteractive and Socraticā teaching style, no different than what students will someday experience when senior executives quiz them on their ideas, methods, and expected outcomes. Nadine Thornton āProfessor BenDanielās classes highlight the importance of learning investing from real investors and real deals. His classes are tough, but develop a strong understanding and sharper abilities in students who often hope to enter the arena of private equity or venture capital.” Experienced, demanding, supportive and insightful, BenDaniel personifies many qualities associated with the best teachers. As part of evaluating its 100 āBest & Brightestā MBAs, Poets&Quants asked nominees to share their favorite professor and how each made a special difference in their business school experience. REAL WORLD STORIES MAKE CONTENT COME ALIVE UNC’s Ed McCraw A distinctive feature of business schools is the presence of ārock starā professors, whoāve influenced thought or achieved heights that students can only dream of attaining. One such professor is the University of North Carolinaās Ed McCraw, who was responsible for Mastercardās āPricelessā and Verizonās āCan you hear me nowā marketing campaigns. According to Brittany Gulledge, Carewās attraction was more than his renown. For her, the stories he shared made the class content come alive for her. āHe used his experiences within the corporate environment and external cases to teach students about corporate reputation management. I personally love stories, and Professor McCraw told us stories from his experience and external cases. He tested us through role-playing current corporate scandals, such as the Volkswagen scandal and the BP oil spill. In our assignments, he pushed us to stretch our understanding and creativity. That class pushed my thinking to the next level.ā Like Gulledge, Georgia Techās Maggie Lovatt appreciates professors who can make concepts real for her. She touts Dr. Frank Rothaermel, who is seemingly cut from the cloth as BenDaniel. Lovatt describes Rothaermel as a ātoughā professor with high expectations and a penchant for cold calling. However, he is also a man with āfantastic corporate connectionsā who backs his students and puts them in a position to shine in his strategy class. āThe second half of the class focused on helping a corporation solve a strategic problem,ā she says. āMy team worked with the Vice President of Pricing and Revenue Management at Delta Air Lines to answer the question āHow should Delta compete with ultra-low cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier.ā (Spoiler alert, they shouldnāt!) Professor Rothaermel supported our teamās decision to tell Delta what we truly believed was the best strategy, even though it did not align with the companyās current strategy.ā Georgetown’s Allison Koester FIND WAYS TO SIMPLIFY COMPLEX CONCEPTS It isnāt easy to master the intricacies of the time value of money or a P&L statement. Thatās why the most talented professors are often able to break down complex concepts so they are understandable and memorable āa specialty of two Georgetown professors: Allison Koester and Arthur Dong. According to Georgetownās Devon Weiss, a classic poet who joined EYās M&A operations department after graduation, both are able to relate key content to students in different ways. āProfessor Arthur Dong has mastered the art of simplifying complex problems and teaching students how to apply MBA fundamentals to generate innovative solutions,ā Weiss explains. In contrast, Koester appeals to various learning styles and experience levels. āProfessor Allison Koester is able to simultaneously teach accounting courses to students with both CPA and non-business backgrounds,ā Weiss explains. āHer ability to explain concepts in a seemingly endless number of ways and from multiple perspectives leaves no student behind.ā In the process, top professors also bring value where students assume there was none. That was the experience of Yaleās Sarah Esty, who earned a dual JD-MBA degree in 2016 before working for the Democratic National Committee. She assumed that Heidi Brooksā Interpersonal Dynamics and Leadership course would be trivial and āwishy-washy.ā Instead of being fluff, the course became a seminal event in her MBA experience. āHeidi has created a life-changing course that offers a chance to learn and practice critical skills like giving feedback, self-disclosure, active listening, and how to conduct difficult conversations,ā Esty shares. āBut even more than that, she is deeply empathetic and engaged with all of her students, and doesnāt just teach the course, but also participates as a full member of the group who is willing to put herself out there for our learning.ā Continue ReadingPage 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.