Favorite Professors Of The Executive MBA Class of 2022

Helen Moser, University of Minnesota (Carlson)

Helen Moser, Senior Lecturer of Finance, was my favorite professor. Helen starts her class by having everyone do introductions so that she can get to know you by a preferred nickname. While I admittedly remember questioning the time this took from the class the first session, I quickly came to realize that it was because she cared about getting to know students as individuals. She fostered a learning environment that was a community where she carefully-crafted lessons and assignments, and encouraged discussion posts where classmates helped each other – or she would step in to course correct – so that we had every opportunity to learn the topic at hand.  I feel fortunate to have been taught by Helen both first year and second year.”
Alysa Ulstad, University of Minnesota (Carlson)

“My favourite MBA professor, without doubt, was Professor David Myatt. David brought incredible energy to the class, and found innovative teaching methods that made an otherwise dry subject like microeconomics interesting and relatable. This included a Marmite-on-toast tasting session and an in-class auction of a stuffed owl!

A remarkable quality about David that I noted during class was his ability to seamlessly merge the interactions between students present in class, and those attending the class virtually (as was the practice for a few months when the pandemic was at its peak). This resulted in a very high level of interaction between students and faculty, unlike any other class that I had attended.

David was also genuinely interested in the well-being of the students, and responded very well to our feedback. I think I can speak for our entire cohort when I say that he stood out as the professor who made the deepest impression on all of us.”
Chinmayee Prasad, London Business School

“I would choose Finance Professor MP Narayanan. MP is a tremendously gifted teacher who can take the most complex of concepts and bring them to a level that even those of us who had never taken a finance course could understand. To top it off, he did it in the most entertaining, humorous, and delightfully challenging of ways. He would have the class rolling with laughter even as he took us through the grinder. However, the most important and compelling reason why I would nominate MP was his absolutely genuine desire to push us all to reach our pinnacles. He was able to make each of us individually feel and believe in our heart of hearts that he would not stop until he knew he had driven us to be our best, and this yearning in MP was palpable.”
Kathleen C. Kobashi, MD, University of Michigan (Ross)

Dan Gode. Financial analysis previously was foreign and mystifying to me. He made analyzing financial statements not only very digestible, but also taught me how to read between those lines. He has a great sense of humor that clicked with me; everything discussed in class could be challenged, which made for very worthwhile class lectures.”
Janet Cao, New York University (Stern)

Mabel Miguel, University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)

“Professor Mabel Miguel was my favorite. I was intrigued by her teaching style and expertise in strategic leadership tactics. I used my knowledge from excerpts used in my dissertation (the Expectancy Theory of Motivation) and applied it to material learned in her courses. Her teaching style made it enjoyable to learn and I was motivated to do extra non-required research/readings. After taking classes with Professor Miguel, I knew I wanted to focus on Strategy and Leadership in the Evening Executive MBA program.”
Dr. Kimberly Pettaway Willis, North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)

“Professor Mitchell Petersen is the one that leaves a mark, in every class and every encounter!

Prof. Petersen taught me how to read a financial statement and make insightful inferences, justify my assumptions, build financial narratives, and ask the right questions. He has an uncanny ability to help you connect the dots from reading that financial statement to instantly understanding marketing, technology, operations, or R&D decisions for any business. It was hard work; and it took every bit of discipline and commitment from both of us to stick through the rougher case studies (i.e. all of them)! And it was worth it – because Prof. Petersen invests in his classroom and each of his students with so much love and humility, it really changes everything.

He makes it an experience, not just a class. Beyond the academia, he fills the room with an endearing nature and many finance jokes. Some memories I take with me are of him wearing a different tie each class that holds the answer to what each class is about, and telling us about his sons, rightfully nicknamed Debt and Equity.  Of course, he wrapped up the class with a session on Finance in Life, which will bring out the most heartwarming side of being a human and making profit & loss decisions in our lives, with the people we live for. I’ve never seen or learned Finance this way before and am forever grateful to him for his investment and belief in me.”
Sana Mohammed, Northwestern University (Kellogg)

“Professor John Affleck-Graves. Professor Affleck-Graves has held many roles at the University, including Executive Vice President of the University, and I was able to study under him in his last year. He is one of the brightest minds that I have had the opportunity to work with, which would make him a likely choice on its own. Much more than that, I don’t know that I have ever observed someone who cares so deeply about his students, other faculty, and staff as Professor Affleck-Graves does. He challenged us throughout the class, but always with an intentional positive outcome in mind – pushing us to fulfill our full potential. Years from now, I will look back at my time in his classroom as some of my fondest memories of being at the University of Notre Dame.”
Ryan McKee, Notre Dame (Mendoza)

Yael Grushka-Cockayne, University of Virginia (Darden)

“While all professors were fantastic, the one who stands out the most was Rogge Dunn for our Legal Environment of Business course. He went above-and-beyond to create a classroom environment that was fun, engaging, and memorable, to say the least. One especially memorable lecture that stands out involved a buzz saw and a mannequin head – I’ll never look at creating appropriate warning labels the same way!”
Heather Pondrom, Southern Methodist University (Cox)

“Darden has many outstanding faculty, but my favorite is Yael Grushka-Cockayne. Yael was my Decision Analysis professor, and she made it understandable even for a poet like me. In her role as the Senior Associate Dean for Professional Programs, we worked closely together on a wide range of student issues. She always takes time to understand our concerns and brainstorm solutions. She is an outstanding teacher, leader, and friend.”
Catriona Stadtler-Ayer, University of Virginia (Darden)

“My favourite MBA professor is Tiziana Casciaro, who taught us about Power & Influence in organizations. Tiziana brought a wealth of knowledge about how organizations are managed and led and the role of power and influence in achieving results. Her sound theory and practical case studies were highly engaging and insightful. This course allowed me to have a new perspective on power and influence, how to use power effectively to lead organizational change while understanding the dark side of power, and its pitfalls and recognizing that everyone has power. An added bonus for our cohort was reviewing some chapters of Tiziana’s book Power for All before it was published, and now it is one of my favourite business books.”
Idalin McKenzie, University of Toronto (Rotman)

Dr. Dave Logan. Dr. Logan was pivotal to understanding not only what it takes to be a great leader, but how to instill and empower leadership within my teams. His guidance has allowed me to think differently about how I approach business, the growth of a company and how the people and culture are an integral part of what we do to be successful. Dr. Logan has taken many moments to elevate my experience during the EMBA program.  In many occasions, he has solicited my opinion and guidance on overall class engagements and ways we can continue to improve to the program. He also introduced me to many career advancing contacts and has literally created opportunities for me to present to his other classes and to share my story to empower other EMBA students to think beyond what they know to unlock their true potential.”
C.J. Stermer, USC (Marshall)

Maura O’Neill, University of California-Berkeley

“Professor Maura O’Neill. I appreciate her for two reasons. First, she fully leverages her knowledge and background to teach and explain the most complex business cases in simple, common language that a novice can understand. Having come from a scientific background, I benefited greatly from her teaching, which allowed me to envision myself working in the two areas: public policy in business and new venture work as an entrepreneur or investor. Second, she unfailingly gives her best in all that she does. She challenges novice and experienced students alike to reach the highest academic standards while never failing to bring out the humanity in them. She is kind and demonstrates true grit. Simply put, Professor O’Neill is one of a kind.”
Seo Yeon Yoon, UC Berkeley (Haas)

“We have many excellent professors at McCombs: Luis Martins, PK Toh, Melissa Murphy. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be Stephen Courter (“Coach”), our professor for “New Venture Creation” in our summer course elective and our professor for Corporate Turnaround during this last semester. He immediately captures his audience by his name, Coach, and his demand that we never use sports metaphors! (Say what, Coach?) Every class with Coach is filled with four hours of laughter and the best ‘one liners’ we have ever heard.

His passion for teaching shows by how much energy he pours into each of his lectures. Coach does not rely on a textbook. He can coach for hours at a time discussing real world experiences he has had resurrecting several companies as their CEO. He does not need to teach, but he loves doing it and he is darn good at it. His “Corporate Turnaround” class has been my favorite class of the program and does a really great job of tying together everything we have learned over the course of two years into one class. From the evaluation stage through planning, emergency, stabilization, and return to growth stages, the class gave us the ‘playbook’ needed to navigate business and the tools needed to turnaround a company.”
Joel D. Harper, University of Texas (McCombs)

Gad Allon, Wharton School

Gad Allon, hands down. I came into the program not believing that I would like the operations courses very much. One intro operations strategy class with him, and I was hooked. I immediately signed up for another one of his courses the next term (Scaling). He has such an uncanny ability to teach what has the potential to be a dry topic with levity and practicality, and tied in our learnings from every discipline: marketing, finance, and management. I will actually graduate with a major in Operations, in large part because his courses made me realize just how interesting, applicable, and all-encompassing the topic really is.”
Vicky Partenope, Wharton School

“Dr. Heidi Brooks served as Faculty for the Connecticut Health Foundation Health Leadership Fellows, which introduced me to the great opportunity and great need to drive health equity as an executive leader. Dr. Brooks manages to activate and multiply the strengths of everyone she interacts with. She inspired me to want to have the same impact on others that she had on me. Her research and teaching on power has helped me better wield my power as a leader to empower others.”
Gina Calder, Yale SOM

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