By now, most of you know what led me to start teaching at Kellogg: After stepping down as Chairman and CEO of Baxter International in 2004 after 23 years with the company, I was unsure what my next “adventure” would be. I am forever indebted to former Dean Don Jacobs who encouraged me to join the Kellogg faculty as a Clinical Professor. He at first assumed that I would teach finance or accounting given my background as a CFO and CPA. However, I explained to him that without a PhD, I did not believe I was qualified. So Dean Jacobs suggested the idea of teaching values-based leadership and how to run a global company, which peaked my interest. The idea of having a small impact on the next generation of leaders was amazingly exciting.

I must admit that I don’t just enjoy teaching, I absolutely love it!!! I realized early on that until I can explain something clearly to a group of bright people, I really don’t understand it myself. I truly enjoy teaching Kellogg classes in the full time, part time, and executive MBA programs in Chicago and Miami, the Kellogg Hong Kong executive MBA program in conjunction with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and the executive programs at the Allen Center. I am convinced that I learn as much (if not more) than the students and executives!

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I unfortunately was not able to teach the Kellogg Hong Kong 23 and 24 (KH 23 and KH 24) cohorts live in Hong Kong. However, I was able to teach the classes on Zoom from 11pm to 4am during the week. While we couldn’t be physically together for the classes, the good news is that some of the KH 23 and 24 executives came to Chicago last week, and Julie and I had them over at our house for a dinner party. We all had a great time!

Here are some photos from our time together: