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Favorite Professors

By Bremen Leak

"A Lifetime Guarantee"

Andrew Holmes' Brigham Young University classes are no easy A. Maybe that explains why they stick with students long after graduation

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For a special series, BusinessWeek asked business undergrads to tell us about their favorite professors. Here's an installment:

Dallas native Andrew Holmes may not have ever seen snow before he started teaching at Brigham Young University in the heart of ski country in 1996. But today, the 42-year-old business-management professor coaches a high school hockey team, takes his five kids snowboarding, and feels right at home in the classroom on the Provo, Utah, campus. "That's strange for a transplanted Texan," says Holmes, who admits he still prefers the beach to snowy mountaintops. "But I'm certainly glad to be here."

Andrew L. Holmes
Associate Professor of Business Management
BYU, Marriott School of Management
andrew_holmes@byu.edu
Bio

His students are glad he's there, too. In a BusinessWeek survey of more than 400 undergraduates at BYU's Marriott School of Management, Holmes won the title of Favorite Professor. Students praised him for his smart, real-world experience as well as his energy and enthusiasm in the classroom.

HIS OWN MODEL.  Also named the Outstanding Professor of the Year by the BYU Finance Society in 2005, Holmes has published research on such topics as real estate, banking, and corporate governance. More important, he has a talent for inspiring his students to excel. "He made the class fun," says James Cordell, a 23-year-old finance major from New Jersey. "He really has a passion for teaching."

A former instructor at the University of Houston and Sam Houston State University, Holmes first found his love for theory and teaching during the Texas oil bust of the late 1980s. At the time, "a hamburger and fries looked like a good severance package," so Holmes left his commercial banking job to earn advanced degrees in finance at Texas A&M and the University of Houston.

There he developed a teaching style inspired by one of his graduate professors, James Kolari. It was twofold: First, break down the concepts. Then, build up your analysis. Holmes still follows that model today, giving students a reference point in their lives—the bank's response to an automobile accident, for example—to explain credit risk and other concepts.

MIRTH DAYS. While such topics don't always engage students on a sleepy Monday morning, Holmes knows how to get their minds ticking. Like a coach on game night, he responds with lightning speed when participation levels falter.

How? "He had a joke of the day just to bring everyone back together," says senior Rhett Sowards. The one-minute daily ritual—a joke or thought of the day shared by Holmes or a student volunteer—constitutes a cherished part of daily instruction.

But it's not always stand-up comedy. Holmes tells students the most important thing they can do for their personal happiness is nurture their relationships with their spouses. It might have little to do with finance, but such counsel goes a long way for a group of young people facing some of life's biggest decisions. Says Sowards: "You felt good when you left his class."

HOSPITABLE ROOTS. That's not unusual at Brigham Young, a private university operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Holmes is a member. Placing eighth in BusinessWeek's first-ever ranking of top undergraduate business programs in 2006, the Marriott School bundles faith, character, and professional ability to give students more than just a list of marketable skills.

Like founder J.W. Marriott, an entrepreneur who turned a root beer stand into a global hotel chain, students have extraordinary drive and integrity, Holmes says. Three out of four are bilingual. And even after they graduate, alumni eagerly advise Marriott students through a volunteer mentor program run by the school. "We spend a lot of time worrying about students, both formally and informally," Holmes says.

To that end, Holmes does his best to prepare them for life after graduation. He sets aside time to discuss internships, careers, or graduate schools, and strives to push students to break out of their comfort zones. He contributes to the Chartered Financial Analyst exam—a benchmark test for investors—in hopes of lending an air of credibility to the university.

And to his students, Holmes keeps his office door open long after they graduate. "I always give my students a lifetime guarantee on their class," he says. But for his students to get an A, he demands they get high marks on three exams, two dozen quizzes, and several case studies—no easy task, his students say.

The effort is worth it. It's worked for Holmes. He has no regrets.

Leak is a reporter for BusinessWeek in New York.

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