Michael Stegemoller, the chair of the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate department, will be taking over Bill Petty’s wildly popular Entrepreneurial Finance course following Petty’s retirement in May.
The Entrepreneurial Finance class, which was scheduled to be part of the Great Classes feature that starts on page 42, had been Dr. Petty’s sincere 1990. Over the past 27 years, students fought each semester to get a place in the class. With Petty retiring in May, everyone is eager to see how Stegmoller will take what Petty has created and make it his own.
“The main challenge I face is that associated with a new class preparation,” Stegmoller said. “I don;t feel pressure to fill Bi;;’s shoes. That simply can’t be done. In a teaching document for our department Bill recently wrote, ‘Identify what makes you unique and capitalize upon that to engage, encourage and connect with your students,’ That is sage advice from a master teacher and I plan to follow it.”
Petty invited actual successful entrepreneurs to class and allowed them to pitch their business idea to students. Petty then chose students at random to approach the entrepreneur and tell them why they would or would not invest in the business.
Recognizing that it could be intimidating for some students to give advice to an established entrepreneur. Petty created small strategies that he used to make sure students felt comfortable and have the confidence to participate in class, including celebrating birthdays to making students who arrive to class late sing “Im a Little Tea Pot.”
“They are scared at first, and then they start getting comfortable with it,” Petty said. “I try to make it a friendly environment where they can mess up and not feel bad… they are among friends.”
In fact, Petty reversed the common lecture style completely and sat in the back of class.
“My key theme is student engagement,” Petty said, “I’ve changed participation to contribution.”
Ryan Gibson ‘04, a former student of Petty’s Entrepreneurial Finance class, is now a guest speaker in the class. Gibson took the class during his last semester and, like most students, he went in looking for an A, but found a class “that most accurately represents the real world of any class that [he has] ever taken.”
GPetty recognizes that after his retirement the class will be taught differently, but has full confidence that Stegemoller will continue to enrich students’ lives the way he has.
Gibson agrees that if anyone should take over this class, it should be Dr. Stegemoller.
“He is one of the few people who could do it justice,” Gibson said. “It’s staying in the family, and the way that is able to be replaced is because he has such a gift of delegating and empowering.”
