What do you do?
I’m an assistant professor of international business, and the main course I teach is the globalization seminar, which is required of all undergrad business majors. So by the numbers, I get to work with almost a third of all Drake undergraduates at some point in their time here.

How did you end up at Drake and in teaching?
I spent 10 years in corporate America, and one day I was in a personal development seminar in which they told us to make a Venn diagram of passions, talents, and the least amount of money we were willing to make. Upon completion of my diagram, I decided I was not in the right position. The very next week, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about the shortage of Ph.D. professors in business. I talked with some advisers and decided to take the plunge.

You’ve studied (and experienced) a lot abroad …
I spent a year of undergrad in Europe, part was in France and part was in Russia. In Russia, I lived Krasnodar, not too far from Chechnya, so we were very close to the conflict [the outbreak of The First Chechen War happened at the time]. Most Thursdays we didn’t have class because there would be bomb threats at the university. I also spent a year teaching English in Brazil and have gone back there several times, including in 2014 for the World Cup. I speak Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Russian.

How do all these experiences affect how you teach?
My students hear a lot of stories; my experiences allow me to talk students about study abroad in a firsthand sort of way. It also helps me relate to the international students who enroll at Drake, because I understand the dynamics of what it’s like to be the only student who’s not from a certain place.