MBAs rarely remember the easy classes. They coasted through, rarely challenged to reflect, rethink, and reform. By graduation, the details grow fuzzy as the lessons fade from memory.
Just lost time and missed opportunities.
Knowledge is earned. In Professor Haresh Sapra’s accounting courses, EMBAs can expect to work…hard. Just ask Arief Wana, a fund manager and philanthropist who earned his MBA at the University of Chicago’s Booth School this spring. He describes Sapra as “demanding, exacting, and sometimes blunt.” The stuff of nightmares? Hardly, says Wana, who harbors a deep respect for Sapra for pushing him to learn more than intricacies of accounting. In the process, Wana understood the “implications” of accounting practices, both in organizational leadership and decision-making.
“[Sapra’s] passion, depth, and unwavering commitment to student learning left a real mark on me,” Wana adds. “Beneath the tough exterior is a good soul who truly cares, and I’m grateful he never let us settle for less.”
A NEW WAY OF THINKING
Kevin Kaiser, Wharton School
At the Wharton School, Professor Kevin Kaiser is best-known for his “intensity and passion for value creation,” says Kelly Kamienski, another spring graduate. As an MBA student, Kamienski took Kaiser’s courses in Corporate Valuation and Corporate Restructuring. Being a CFO, Kamienski was already versed in many of the courses’ concepts. However, it was Kaiser’s talent for upending what Kamienski thought she knew that made her time with Kaiser so invaluable.
“He taught me traditional finance concepts by breaking all the neural connections in my brain that had been developed over years of what I’ll call “bad finance habits” – and then rebuilt them with the proper understanding of value and what companies do to create it or destroy it. I now know how to be a blue line manager, and I am a better finance professional and business leader because of what I learned from Professor Kaiser.”
Inspiration. Disruption. Guidance. Confidence. The best business school professors consistently deliver what adult learners need most. At the Executive MBA level, they face an added challenge. In most cases, they are teaching highly accomplished professionals who are leaders in their firms and experts in their fields. At the same time, these students can quickly apply lessons to their own workplaces, providing an impact that most professors can only dream of achieving.
Which business professors earned the highest marks from their students? As part of selecting the Best & Brightest Executive MBAs from the Class of 2025, Poets&Quants asked candidates to share the professor who made the biggest difference in their studies. From Brigham Young University’s Marriott School to the Yale School of Management, here are 15 professors who represent the best of business education according to 2025 graduates.
“Though this is a difficult choice, I’m grateful for the practical applications I learned from Bruce Money in my negotiations and global management class. His incorporation of relevant case studies and live simulations in the class helped me internalize key negotiation principles across cultures. I appreciated his focus on preparation and self-reflection while considering various ethical dimensions. He was also very kind to host our holiday party in his home, and I’m grateful for his work to organize our foreign business excursion to the Middle East and India.”
Michael Scott Peters, Brigham Young University (Marriott)
“Professor Drew Pascarella: Through Investment Banking: Valuation and Transactions, I have gained practical, transaction-oriented experience in valuation, capital raising, IPO pricing, and M&A structuring, significantly enhancing my ability to navigate complex financial transactions. Throughout the course, I strengthened my ability to apply valuation as a theoretical framework and strategic decision-making tool in real-world scenarios. I especially admired Professor Pascarella’s ongoing engagement with his former students and their willingness to return to the classroom to share valuable, real-time insights into evolving market trends and deal dynamics.”
Nicole Moore, Cornell University (Johnson)
Jamie Jones, Duke University (Fuqua)
“Jamie Jones, who leads Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship, was my favorite professor in the program. Her classes weren’t just theoretical; they were a dynamic fusion of cutting-edge research and real-world application, featuring case studies of prominent startups and established companies. In her Entrepreneurship Execution course, we tackled live business challenges through simulations and design thinking workshops with innovation methods she founded; worked on building actual startups over a semester-long intensive project (referred to as a “startup garage”) to design and test business concepts that addressed real-world problems; and met the founders of Fortune 500 companies (many of them are Duke alumni who started multi-million and billion-dollar companies) and gaining invaluable firsthand insights. Jamie consistently brought in a rich ecosystem of VCs and successful entrepreneurs, demonstrating that ambitious ventures are within reach. Her belief that “anything is possible” was infectious, even for someone who was never exposed to the startup ecosystem growing up in an underserved community. Combined with the resources of the Fuqua Center, it directly inspired me to launch my HR consulting and technology company, Leapwise HR, this year.”
Jonathan Jean-Pierre, Duke University (Fuqua)
“Petya Platikanova. She didn’t just teach me finance—she made me actually like it. Her way of explaining complex concepts was so clear, practical, and engaging that for the first time, I felt confident in a subject I had always found intimidating. Thanks to her, I now speak the language of the business more fluently, and every conversation I have with the CEO and other leaders is sharper, more strategic, and more impactful. She truly transformed the way I lead in my role.”
Maria Pia Bazzolo, ESADE Business School
“Sezer Ülkü, professor and academic director of the Global Business Experience, is my favorite MBA professor because of his methodical approach to teaching operations concepts, making complex theoretical frameworks accessible and fun! His innovative use of diverse teaching tools — particularly his thoughtfully curated videos and immersive game simulations — created a dynamic learning environment where abstract learning concepts could be immediately practiced. Professor Ülkü’s genuine enthusiasm for Eliyahu Goldratt’s The Goal was infectious and further demonstrated his exceptional ability to translate operations concepts through narrative and real-world application. I continue to rely on the resources he provided during his course to improve my operations.”
Stephanie Dobitsch, Georgetown University (McDonough)
“Frank T. Rothaermel – Corporate Strategy. Frank’s class never felt like a traditional class. For four hours each weekend, he took us on a journey into the minds of leaders and decision-makers at companies like Netflix, Starbucks, and Tesla—analyzing the strategic choices they made, what worked, what didn’t, and why. He also ran debates that taught us a powerful lesson: success isn’t about knowing everything, but about thinking on your feet and being agile in responding to your opponent’s arguments. And of course, he began and ended each class with music, setting a tone that made the learning experience both engaging and memorable.”
Isha Vasavada, Georgia Tech (Scheller)
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