Michael Sherrod
Texas Christian University, Neeley Business School
“Michael was not only extremely helpful as my professor but he has continued to help mentor me over 5 years after my graduation despite being thousands of miles away. This is the level of dedication needed in higher education to continue teaching beyond the classroom!” – Conner Walden
Michael Sherrod, 72, is the William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence and Senior Instructor at Texas Christian University, Neeley Business School.
He began his career by starting a magazine publishing company right out of graduate school, growing it into a seven-company media corporation in three years. After a serious auto accident, he sold the media company and transitioned from the print world into the online world. In 1985, he helped manage a video-text news service for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and in that role sold one of the first, if not the first, digital ads ever sold in the U.S.
Sherrod has founded or co-founded 19 companies, including Black Dove Media, DigitalCity.com, AOL Local and Examiner.com. Additionally, he has served in senior management roles and started new companies inside Capital Cities/ABC Inc., AMR Information Services, AOL, Ancestry.com, and The Anschutz Corporation. In 2010, he served as the first publisher of The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan media site covering Texas government, politics, and public policy and is founding board member.
Sherrod is a past chairman of the board of the Urban Libraries Council, past chair of the board of trustees of the Kinsey Institute – the world’s leading research institute for sex, gender and reproduction – and a former board member of the Craigslist Foundation. He also serves as board member and advisor to more than 20 online organizations around the world and is an active angel investor. Sherrod is an author and frequent speaker on the future of work, technology, and media issues.
At Neeley, awards include the Innovative Curriculum Award, the Graduate Teaching Award, and Favorite MBA Professor Award. He is the director of the TCU’s Innovative Teachers Guild in the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The Guild is a cross-campus, interdisciplinary experiential learning program for non-business professors that assists them in teaching entrepreneurial thinking and experiential learning through the lens of their discipline. In addition to his duties with the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Sherrod also teaches the Master of Science in Business Analytics capstone course and the Adaptive Challenge course for the BNSF Neeley Leadership Program.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2011
Education: University of Notre Dame (BA – General Program of Liberal Studies), University of Missouri at Columbia (MA – Journalism), TCU (Executive MBA)
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Corporate Entrepreneurship, Raising Entrepreneurial Capital, and BNSF Neeley Leadership Program Adaptive Challenge Course
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I taught my first full semester class. It was a revelation. It was fun, it was challenging, and it was impactful.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it?
I am an educator and practitioner who applies my professional experience and ongoing studies to impact and educate students. My current interest is in understanding how emerging technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence, can be used to assist students in their learning, and also better prepare them for the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world they will enter following graduation.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … a book publisher.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Starting 19 companies, six of them inside large corporations, has given me broad and deep experience as an entrepreneur and a unique perspective as a senior corporate executive. I’ve had big exits and significant failures and everything in between. I’ve managed large entities inside major corporations. Having had a foot in both worlds, I’m able to speak knowledgably and transfer my experiences into immediate actionable learning that will allow my students to create value no matter where they work or what they do.
One word that describes my first-time teaching: Anticipation.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: 1) It is enormous fun! 2) The best training on how to teach a successful semester long course is to do it, make adjustment and do it again. 3) A lot is taken for granted about how well you can teach, whether you’re an academic or not.
Professor I most admire and why: Scott Galloway at New York University. He is fearless as both a practitioner and teacher. He demands critical thinking, adaptability, and creativity. He understands what students need to learn to create value in their lives and work.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?
Their desire to make a positive difference in the world.
What is most challenging?
Helping them understand how to successfully make the difference they want to make.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious.
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Transactional.
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … Fair.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? I am a voracious reader of books (all genres), bee preservation, and conservation of wild animal habitats.
How will you spend your summer? Reading, working to preserve bees in the wild, working to improve wild animal habitats and, if I’m lucky, some teaching.
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Italy, and the island of Kuai, Hawaii.
Favorite book(s): I love a great detective novel (starting with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson). I’ll read anything by Ray Bradbury or Neal Stephenson, non-fiction that educates me about the importance of each and every creature in our environment. If I had to pick one set of books as my favorite, it would be the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? Only Murders in the Building – the unlikely, but perfect, pairing of Selena Gomez with Steve Martin and Martin Short. I appreciate the obvious delight everyone has doing the show, the red herrings, the uncommon suspects, and the guest stars. It’s just tremendous fun.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? The Beatles. Their music is as timeless as it is popular. Their attention to detail, finding the exact right sound for each moment of a song is just extraordinary. As a band, they were much greater than the sum of their parts.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this … Experiential learning!
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at …understanding that hierarchical organizations need to find new structures allowing them to more rapidly create new products and services and build new businesses around them.
I’m grateful for … my spouse and children, the wonderful animals I’ve had in my life, the incredible opportunities I’ve been afforded, and that I can work with students, executives, and the business community to assist in creating value for the entire business ecosystem of North Texas.
DON’T MISS THE ENTIRE ROSTER OF 2024’S 50 BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSORS.
