Expecting the Unexpected

Wake Forest prof Bill Marcum likes to toss surprising questions into his finance exams to give students a taste of the real world

by Kristen Lease

Bill Marcum
Associate Professor of Finance
Wake Forest University
Wayne Calloway School of Business and Accountancy

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BusinessWeek asked business undergrads to tell us about their favorite professors. Here is another installment in the series.

Bill Marcum's finance students have one expectation when they take his exams: "they will see questions they never dreamed could occur," he says. Instead of asking his classes at Wake Forest University to recite the material he taught throughout the semester, Marcum pushes undergrads to apply concepts to unfamiliar situations. "That's what happens in the business world," he says. "You're going to have to solve problems as they come to you."

While former student Brad Yates felt some anxiety when he'd see exam problems asking him to do things such as value companies without knowing the interest rate, he appreciated the challenge. "In terms of preparing us for jobs, it's important to be tested like that," Yates says. "We're not going to know everything that people throw at us."

Leavening Lectures with Humor

Like Yates, Marcum's other students at the Calloway School of Business are pleased to take such challenging courses with a teacher who keeps their attention. That's why students who responded to BusinessWeek's 2007 survey most often named him as their favorite business professor. "Marcum brings an uncanny energy to his lectures," one student writes. "After taking his rigorous classes, I feel absolutely confident that I will succeed after college." This isn't the first time Marcum has been honored for his teaching. The Wake Forest graduating class presented him with the Senior Teaching Award in 2003 and 2006.

Marcum describes his teaching style as "straight lecture," but his students look forward to the "five-minute hiatus" of humor they get after 20 minutes of intensely taking notes and going over handouts, before Marcum goes back to lecturing. During the pause, Marcum jokes about politicians, culture, and anything else—except for sex or religion. "My attention span is short," he says. "So I think, if I'm doing this and I'm getting bored, they must be."

The entertainment value Marcum brings to class is much of what creates his loyal following. Greg Smith enjoyed class with Marcum so much that he looked forward to attending optional review sessions. "The whole time in class, you're laughing and at the same time, you're learning a lot," Smith says.

Candid Assessments

In addition to the optional review sessions, students with questions can talk to Marcum during his office hours. But undergrads going to him for career advice should be prepared for his honest opinion, no matter how difficult it is to hear. "I tell them things I wished people had told me at their age," he says. "I don't want them to give up a dream, but I don't want them to make decisions that disadvantage them later."

For some, Marcum's advice is the motivation students need to change their act and prove him wrong. "What I see is that they do change," he says. "They sit up and act like a person who knows the answer. It takes a lot, but I start to see them responding."

Aside from helping students with career advice, Marcum's finance curriculum incorporates practical tools such as Microsoft (MSFT) Excel. He'll tell his students to bring their laptops for "Excel days" where he walks them through complicated formulas they'll need on the job. "When you introduce something like this, they're going to come up with other ways they can use this," he says.

A Visit Became a Career

Marcum's goal had nothing to do with teaching college students useful information. After getting two bachelor's degrees (one in philosophy and one in economics), a master's degree, and a doctorate, he thought he had had enough of academia, and he wanted to work on Wall Street. After a few interviews, a year-long visiting position opened at Wake Forest and Marcum took it—11 years later, he's still there.

Even though he stumbled into becoming a professor, Marcum's favorite moments in life are in the classroom, and he says he owes much of his happiness to his "very, very smart" students. "When I'm walking into class it's the happiest part of the day," he says. "I even like teaching more than I like the weekends."

Lease is an intern for BusinessWeek.com in New York.