Favorite Professors Of The Executive MBA Class of 2020

Sara Beckman, U.C. Berkeley (Haas)

“Sara Beckman: Her class on applied innovation has provided me with an incredible toolkit that I use regularly in my work to support my team to problem frame and solve. She designed the class to leverage teams to apply the strategies throughout class on a real world problem, which made it feel relevant and the ideas really stick.”
Sarah Morrill, U.C. Berkeley (Haas)

“Marc Ventresca, Professor of Strategy and Innovation. His course challenged students to put aside all that we had learned previously and consider instead unsettled spaces, disruption, nascent markets, all key ingredients for strategy and innovation. His course addressed many of the frustrations I was experiencing in my own field which is ripe for innovation. He introduced me to systems and frameworks for formalizing strategy and innovation which will be very useful in my career.”
Shawn McQueen-Ruggeiro, University of Oxford (Saïd)

“Shane Dikolli, Managerial Accounting, has been one of the most powerful professors I’ve encountered. He creates a safe environment for learning, which includes failure. He offers support, but allows the student to learn, which is critical for growth. He is compassionate, patient, kind, and brilliant.”
Jaila Ingram-DeBerry, University of Virginia (Darden)

“Dr. Joan Brett. Her Organizational Theory and Behavior course was a perfect start to the Executive MBA track. She orchestrated her course as a perfect blend of learning theories and application behind organizations, teams, and leadership. She was also a professor who followed us through the entire program, checking in with us and touching base with any feedback she heard about our current classes or life outside of the program. She was a fantastic mentor and someone I know I can reach out to for guidance as I progress in my professional career.”
Chris Martell, Arizona State (W. P. Carey)

“Chris Ragan, who taught in the module “Decision-making Tools”, because I was fascinated by his economics classes where I had previously found economics anything but interesting. He lives and breathes economics, he’s sharp, he’s funny, and he can explain concepts clearly without dumbing them down.”
Lindsey Kettel, McGill-HEC Montreal

Albert Fernandez, IESE Business School

“This absolutely had to be our Management Control professor, Alberto Fernandez. He was extremely passionate about the class – I loved his class the most for teaching me the elements that really matter on management that have been very useful especially in my new role. I loved the fact that the management principles were taught using very exciting experiences first at Barca – learning from the football team on team dynamics and spending a whole day at Montserrat Sanctuary experiencing how the monks view life and run the monastery. It was one of my best classes really in the GEMBA for the infusion of key principles through very real life and memorable experiences.”
Milkah Wachiuri, IESE Business School

“I would walk out of every single one of Paul Johnson’s Value Investing lectures with a revelation. Professor Johnson’s wit and humor in the classroom are matched by his brilliance. His explanations of the nuances of competitive advantage and the true meaning of value, both mathematically and otherwise, were eye-opening.”
Sasha Schechter, Columbia Business School

“Gilles Hilary – Accounting – Gilles’ creative techniques to teach Accounting to a room full of non-accountants was impressive. The use of simulations, storytelling, and guest speakers drew the class’ attention to a topic that can be difficult to teach to a group of executives.”
Patrick Collins, Georgetown University (McDonough)

Vanina Farber, IMD Business School

“Professor Vanina Farber is an inspiration. In business and business schools, female role models are far and few between. For me, as a female EMBA candidate, Professor Farber represented living proof that intelligence, strength, charm, and femininity can coexist in a male dominated environment. Professor Farber’s expedition to Peru was an ‘impact investment’ bootcamp – which examined Peru’s social and economic challenges and opportunities in the context of impact investment. The quality of Professor Farber’s coursework and the awe-inspiring cast of male and female Peruvian leaders, legislators, judiciary, and businesses were enough to make both her and her expedition a favorite.”
Frith Brennan, IMD

“I enjoyed each one of my professors for a variety of reasons. The one that I will highlight is my professor of Managerial Accounting, Elia Ferracuti. I have significant respect for professors who have undeniable passion for their areas of expertise and are able to convey this passion to students. In his class, each course lecture was an experience worth remembering. From props to videos, he used a variety of creative methods to teach us the principles of managerial accounting. The personal touch he brought to the class motivated me to come prepared for a great debate and exchange of ideas. In addition, we had to analyze several cases and compose memos to justify our interpretations and recommendations. As a result, many of the persuasive documents I composed for my leadership work today are written in the form of a memo, with a clear identification of the problem, proposal of solutions with advantages and disadvantages, and acknowledgement of the non-quantitative consequences. My contribution value at work has increased exponentially because of his course and teaching style.”
Erica Dianne Taylor, Duke University (Fuqua)

“I have chosen Professor Justin Johnson because he articulated his thoughts very well during the Business Strategy” course. He actively engaged the class with thought-provoking discussions and used current events to shed light on the relationship between course concepts and activities at various industries. Professor Johnson made sure to weave in actual business examples during the course by using “simulations” and “games” – which helped clarify some of the complex scenarios. It was a pleasure to be his student and apply what I learned to my professional job.”
Yoga Anand, Cornell University (Johnson)

Jonathan Clarke, Georgia Tech (Scheller)

“Professor Marie Mitchell, who taught our ethics and negotiations classes. She is a strong, independent, successful woman in a male-dominated academic field. She was engaging and passionate about her research and teaching. Our class was interactive and applicable to each of us even though we were a very diverse class at different stages of our careers. I looked forward to each of her classes and left armed with methods to negotiate for myself, my career, and my organization. She has turned me into a powerful negotiating “weapon.” This will be a valuable skill that I will carry with me throughout my life and will share with others to help them through mentorship.”
Michele M. Johnson, University of Georgia (Terry)

“Professor Jonathan Clarke was my favorite MBA professor. His approach to teaching the class was extremely well-balanced in that he made certain we learned the core skill for conducting financial analysis that would be applicable to any company in any industry. However, he also provided time to discuss current events, address questions about personal finance, and offer insight into questions that may have been very specific to one particular industry. His teaching style was very much “what can I do for you” and I can confidently say that the entire class deeply appreciates when consideration regarding learning is offered to the student.”
Cornelius T. Cook, Georgia Tech (Scheller)

“Professor Linda Ginzel! Her courses inspired me a lot about my own leadership experiences and helped and still helping me to find blind spots of my leadership style.”
Po-yee Lam, University of Chicago (Booth)