Business education website Poets&Quants for Undergrads recently kicked off its article on “The Favorite Business Professors of the Class of 2024” with McIntire’s own Finance Professor David C. Smith.
The feature asked recent college graduates from across the country what faculty members stood out to them for their teaching talent and their ability to motivate students no matter the time and circumstances of a course, instill in them a curiosity that enables them to reach their own epiphanies on the subject matter, and finally, deliver a curiosity about the material that drives students to continue searching for answers long after the class has finished.
Alumnus Manish Dahal (McIntire ’24) said that Smith fit the bill on all of the aforementioned attributes.
“Extremely smart, charismatic, and never failed to make our class laugh. His passion and knowledge for finance, especially restructuring, are second to none,” noted Dahal. “In class, he would explain complex concepts in a simple manner, provide thoughtful answers to our questions, and continuously encourage us to think critically.”
Outside the classroom, Smith makes time for his students and “plays a key role in his students’ lives,” he added, pointing out Smith’s mentorship, efforts helping students with the recruiting process, and connecting them with alumni working in finance. “It was truly a pleasure to take his class,” Dahal said.
For his part, Smith credited those he teaches.
“I get a lot of energy from our students,” he said. “They’re the best students I’ve ever taught—and I’ve taught at different schools—not just in the sense they’re smart and motivated, but they’re genuinely nice individuals with high integrity. That feeds an energy for me to do as good a job as I can to teach them the concepts that I get excited about and that I’m interested in.”
“I’m very pleasantly surprised by the recognition, and very flattered and appreciative of Manish’s comments about me in the article,” said Smith.
