Favorite Professors Of The MBA Class Of 2022

“Professor Greg Fisher (Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Corporate Innovation). Greg and I initially bonded over our love for his home country (South Africa) and later over venture strategy and entrepreneurship. Greg is passionate about what he teaches and the students he teaches. I took his “Venture Strategy,” “Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” and “Turnaround Management” courses. There were several occasions when my classmates and I would be chatting before or after class and Greg would show a genuine interest in our lives outside of the classroom, professionally and personally.

On many Friday mornings, he kept office hours at a local coffee shop for anyone who wanted help or just to have a chat. He is incredibly organized and communicates very well. We always knew exactly what was expected of us. He knew just the right balance in the amount of work to assign us to prepare us for lively discussions in class. He would then double down on the topic by bringing in a successful entrepreneur or business leader to extend the discussion, often a Kelley alum or international connection. He used whiteboarding, breakouts, and other various teaching methods to enhance learning. To top it off, he condensed all the learnings and material into a 1-pager booklet for each class with additional suggested readings to continue the learning beyond Kelley.”
Adam Cochran, Indiana University (Kelley)

“Fondly known as Professor Vishy, Professor Viswanath Pingali is my ‘Guru’ in all sense of the word. Brad Henry said ’A good teacher ignites the imagination, inspires hope, and instills a love for learning.’ Professor Vishwanath Pingali is a living embodiment of this definition!

I admire his passion and selfless commitment to giving the best to his students. I am sure not many can claim to be as honest, engaged, and driven as he is when it comes to being a professor, mentor, guide, or teacher. His energy and passion make the class alive and pushes us to think, act, and grow multi-dimensionally. One would exit each course of his as an improved version of themselves. A professor of microeconomics for all, he helped us think deeply about the concepts and the assumptions that underpin them and test them regularly. A writer capable of bringing grace, charm, and humor. All at the same time, it is genuinely no exaggeration when I say that Professor Viswanath leaves an indelible imprint upon every student who walks into his class.”
Ekta Kishore, IIM Ahmedabad

“Dr. Frits Pil teaches the Negotiations Immersions. From just the organizational perspective, I appreciated Dr. Pil’s communication style, assignment choices, and grading promptness. From an interpersonal perspective, Dr. Pil was an incredibly inclusive professor and taught his class from the perspective of inclusion and equity. In practice and in theory, he always put people first and demonstrated a way of being an instructor that is genuinely progressive and thoughtful. He always gave a balanced view of the teaching materials he used and welcomed critique, feedback, and discussion both in and outside of class. As far as the content of his courses go, I found them to be some of the most valuable academic experiences I have had at Katz. He truly loves teaching, and it comes across loud and clear.”
Amelia Parlier, University of Pittsburgh (Katz)

“My favorite MBA professor is Carol Shuherk, who teaches courses focused on leadership and communication at Simon. One of the things I respect most about Professor Shuherk is that she is an exceptional listener. You can often tell when someone is truly engaged and providing thoughtful feedback designed to foster improvement, and Professor Shuherk is very consistent in that regard. As someone who seeks to continually strive to be a better leader and communicator, I have always appreciated her direct, honest, and thoughtful commentary both in the classroom and in one-on-one settings.”
Andrew Black, University of Rochester (Simon)

“My favorite MBA professor is Dr. Lori Kendall. She is a serial entrepreneur, Silicon Valley software veteran, and has more than 25 years of. experience as a technology executive for venture-backed and publicly-traded firms. She has a passion for minority- and women-owned businesses and is incredibly candid and vulnerable with students about her successes and failures. Though her résumé and experiences are incredibly impressive, it is her teachings about leadership that made her my favorite professor.

On the first day of b-school, I must have heard the word “leadership” more than 50 times. I would continue to hear that word throughout the weeks, months, and semesters of school, yet I could never truly resonate with what that word really meant for me. It wasn’t until Dr. Kendall’s Advanced Leadership class that I was able to break down the external validations that so many attached to that word in order to examine it at its core. Interestingly enough, as we were breaking down those external layers of leadership, I was innately breaking down those external layers of myself, allowing me to see myself at my core. What I learned was that the irony in leadership is that the more you try to be a leader, the less you’ll be; however, the more that you are yourself, the greater the leader you’ll see. Dr. Kendall taught me that. So, through her vast experiences, incredible and candid vulnerability, and through guiding me and my peers through the breakdown of false externalities, I learned what it meant to be a leader – and it meant to be me. That’s why she is my favorite MBA school professor.”
Anna St. Clair Chopp, Ohio State (Fisher)

“My favorite professor at Anderson is Dr. Seema Yasmin. She taught my Communication and Leadership in a Crisis class and I learned so much from her course. Dr. Yasmin has an incredible background in the medical profession which she used to pivot her career into communication and crisis management. She was intentional about bringing in diverse speakers (from an industry, gender, and ethnicity perspective), engaged in healthy debate with us as peers, and was not afraid to call out instances of bias or racism. I have never come across a professor quite like Dr. Yasmin and learned a lot from her ability to communicate effectively and fearlessly.”
Nuvie Ewharekuko, UCLA (Anderson)

“Bennett Collen. I took his Business Applications of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency course during my second year of the program with the goal of reinforcing my current knowledge base of this nascent industry. His ability to articulate the course material and appropriately set the level of detail for the course turned skeptics into believers and fanatics into near experts. He is a proven entrepreneur, who can deploy his knowledge and wisdom in business as well as he can share it in academia. His relationships with thought leaders in the industry provide a roster of guest speakers that orchestrate memorable discussion. I hope our paths in life cross again.”
Christopher Collar, Boston College (Carroll)

“Frank Demmler for Funding Early-Stage Ventures. Professor Frank brings to class 35 years of extensive experience in advising entrepreneurs and angel investors in the tech space. He is notably known as “Pittsburgh’s startup whisperer” for his significant contributions to the technology-based entrepreneurial community here and has won many awards for growing and strengthening the startup ecosystem. I loved how he demystified the world of startup funding for us, both from the perspectives of an entrepreneur and an investor. He also invited entrepreneurs and investors as guest speakers who shared their real experiences and learnings with us. Above all, I admire his humility -despite his many accomplishments- and his willingness to help his students and budding entrepreneurs succeed.”
Shravya Amarnath, Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

“My favorite professor is Philip Stiles. I have had the pleasure of learning from him on two courses: Organisational Behaviour and Corporate Governance & Ethics. Philip has a structured way of communicating the importance of establishing and maintaining a culture within a company. He incorporates fascinating and relevant cases and readings with real impact. Philip is smart, knowledgeable, and approachable. He knows how to get students to engage with the content and challenges us to think beyond our context and on a global scale.”
Angela Khakali, Cambridge Judge

“Last fall, I had the opportunity to take Professor Nathalie Duchesnay‘s Mergers and Acquisitions class. Nathalie is one of those professors who is worth taking even if you have no interest in the class topic. Not only did I learn immensely from her, but I had the opportunity to develop my team, presentation, and critical thinking skills. After a year of virtual classes, Nathalie reminded me why in-person classes are so worthwhile. She also gives good and honest feedback. Her feedback is clear, concise, and constructive, and indicates how deeply she is paying attention to what her students are thinking and saying.”
Scott Brereton, McGill University (Desautels)

“Professor Puneet Manchanda made learning Digital Marketing one of the best educational experiences at Ross! His sense of humor, quirky case examples, and focus on making us learn by application through several simulations (and competitions with classmates!) made the course come to life. It has also been interesting to learn about Prof. Manchanda’s work and research (especially on China-based firms – a market that fascinates me!) and hear from his former students who lead marketing strategies at the likes of Mondelez, Google, and Doordash.”
Anindita Ravikumar, University of Michigan (Ross)

“Professor Brian McCann is an Owen legend who teaches “Corporate Strategy.” His classes are the most well-designed and prepared out of all of the classes I have taken. It is impossible to not be engaged while Professor McCann is teaching, as he regularly challenges students to defend their ideas while expanding their thinking on strategic decisions and their implications. Professor McCann is also incredibly open-minded. He continuously refines his own thinking through arguments presented by students, which makes his class feel like a team quest for discovery rather than a sermon.”
Joe Payne, Vanderbilt University (Owen)

“Professor Stephen Ryan teaches Competitive Industry Analysis, which was my favorite class at WashU Olin. I entered the MBA curriculum with little to no prior business experience (I had never taken an economics course before the first semester), and I struggled in a few of the core classes like microeconomics and finance. Before Professor Ryan’s class, economic theory was just diagonal lines on graphs. Thankfully, Professor Ryan ties all economic theory and concepts he teaches in class to tangible, real-life scenarios and cases that tremendously helped my understanding of the material.

In addition, Professor Ryan famously uses hand signals, a highly effective teaching strategy, to help students remember core concepts from the course. As a former teacher myself, I deeply appreciate the extra care to ensure students commit what he teaches to memory. Finally, Professor Ryan is unapologetically himself, making him exceedingly likable. He comes to class every day ready to crack jokes, cold call by pointing directly at students, proceed to gently poke fun at anyone who isn’t prepared, and start discussions that often lead to even more interesting, in-depth tangents. I will never forget the classes where we went in DEEP on the economics of Chick-fil-a and Beanie Babies. Thank you, Professor Ryan.”
Riley Hawkins, Washington University (Olin)

“Professor Brian Jacobs has been one of the most influential individuals that I’ve had the pleasure of working with during my tenure at Fordham. During the fall 2021 semester, I took Professor Jacobs’ class titled “Disruption in Financial Services”. His passion for the financial services industry, as well as his drive to offer as much information and opportunity to his students, was unlike anything that I had ever experienced before. Professor Jacobs provided us with one-on-one interactions with industry experts in the fields of wealth management, capital markets, financial technologies, and cryptocurrencies. He did not treat us as students, but rather as equals and incoming employees into the world of financial services. If there was ever a question in class, Professor Jacobs went above and beyond to fully demystify all ambiguities that were apparent. His course does not only teach students about how we can be beneficial to the financial services industry, but how we will be the innovators that will be incremental within this industry in years to come.”
Jason Gurtata, Fordham University (Gabelli)

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