The Kogod School of Business hires faculty practitioners with real experience in business settings. Students learn from high-level mentors in their chosen fields, from marketing to consulting, entrepreneurship, and beyond. Professors draw on their extensive experiences to prepare students for the reality of their professional journeys post-graduation. Kogod professor of marketing Michael Clayton finds that his previous work in advertising is an asset in the classroom—students are fascinated by his stories.

“I think students really love hearing from professors about their personal experiences,” Clayton said. “It helps them recognize that things are usually a bit messier than textbooks make them out to be and gives them some of those real-world challenges you face.”

After finishing his bachelor's degree at Miami University, Clayton’s work with ad agencies began in the late nineties. He moved to Detroit, well known for its role in the automotive industry, and got to work on marketing big names like Chevrolet, Dodge, and Michelin. While in Michigan, he also pursued a master’s degree in advertising, where he received his first exposure to the classroom setting.

“One of my graduate instructors asked me to come down to East Lansing and talk to her undergrad students about advertising,” he recalled. “I saw how wide-eyed and optimistic they all were about wanting to get into the business, and that’s when this light bulb went off for me that I really enjoyed what I did.”

Clayton kept that moment in mind. Seeking a way to maintain a better work-life balance than advertising could provide while still sharing his passion for the field, he earned a PhD in mass communication from the University of Florida before shifting gears into academia. Along the way, he found that he enjoyed teaching, so much so that he now conducts pedagogy research to further develop higher education methods.

“When you get your doctorate, very little time is spent teaching you how to teach—you’re learning to be an expert in your respective field,” Clayton said. “Given that no one ever really teaches you about designing a syllabus or an assignment, I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to share my own experiences with colleagues across different universities and to learn from their experiences.”

At Kogod, Clayton is the course coordinator for Principles of Marketing (MKTG300), where students learn about decision making in marketing and practice business writing. Clayton’s pedagogical research has significantly changed how Kogod approaches the writing component; he found that while the course was writing intensive, it didn’t necessarily enable students to develop writing skills. “When I joined Kogod eleven years ago, the course included a semester-long paper. Now, students have the opportunity to practice what they’re being taught, collect feedback on their writing, and go through the editing process,” he explained.