Moses Altsech
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin School of Business
“There are the reasons why you come to a university (the campus, the student life, the city) and there are the reasons you stay. Moses Altsech is the reason you stay. As a campus tour guide, when I stop in front of the classrooms at Grainger, I give the statistics: how many students are in a classroom, how office hours work, and so on. Every time I stop though, I have to tell a story about Moses Altsech. The story I tell is about how my favorite class in college went far beyond lectures and exams. It was a class filled with stories, real world experiences, and a professor who cared. I left my MKT 424 class with a wealth of knowledge, but most importantly with a mentor who I looked up to and who believed in me and supported me wholeheartedly.” – Emily Slaven
Moses Altsech, 55, is a Teaching Professor of Marketing at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin School of Business.
He taught his first class at the age of 22, and over the next three decades he earned over 20 professional and academic awards and distinctions, including six awards for outstanding teaching and mentoring.
With over 30 years as a consultant and speaker working for clients across the United States and overseas, Altsech brings his extensive hands-on experience to the classroom, making the content more relevant and engaging. He has been the co-chair of the Mentoring Committee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, serves as the faculty advisor to three student organizations, and considers mentoring to be an integral part of teaching and inspiring students.
More than any professional achievement, Moses takes pride in the fact that throughout his life, many of his closest friends have been his former students or former professors.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2016
Education:
- Ph.D., Marketing, Penn State University, 1996
- BBA, Marketing and International Business, University of Cincinnati, 1991
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Consumer Behavior, Sales Strategy & Management, Sports Marketing
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I discovered that course content was a side dish destined to get cold before too long; instilling curiosity and confidence, a desire to connect with people and build lasting relationships, perseverance, divergent thinking, and inspiring students to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield; all that was the main course. How could anyone pass that up?
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it?
Studying customer satisfaction is fascinating to me; the finding that most unsatisfied customers never complain to the service provider, combined with the fact that many companies neither measure customer satisfaction nor do research that allows them to understand their customers, will keep me in business both as a professor and consultant for at least another 200 years.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be an oceanographer, antiquarian maps and books dealer, paleontologist, historian, travel journalist, diplomat, or a burden on society.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor?
By enrolling in my class, my students become my kids. I don’t accept them “the way they are,” and I do my best to ensure that they’re better on the last day of class than they were on the first. I’ll be in their corner regardless of what grade they earn, and put my skills, ideas, connections, time, and effort at their disposal—not just while they’re in my class, but for as long as I have a pulse. It’s an abstract deliverable, but it’s all I’ve got.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Terrified.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor:
Academia involves as much politics as any corporate job. I’m happy to say that since joining the Marketing Department at the Wisconsin School of Business I’ve truly found a home, with colleagues who are upbeat, collaborative, and supportive beyond all expectation.
Professor I most admire and why:
Living: James Kellaris, who was my Intro to Marketing Professor at the University of Cincinnati. He was tough, funny, engaging, and spent an inordinate amount of time with me when I was a half-lost kid, preparing me for grad school, and being a living example of what I should aspire to model my teaching after. We’re still friends after 35 years, so he must have a great therapist.
Dead: Paul Anderson, who recruited me to Penn State’s PhD program and taught my Philosophy of Science course. A Renaissance Man with vast knowledge, kindness, and wit, he fed my curiosity and put academic life into perspective for me. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but he died when he was younger than I am today. I still tell stories about him to my students.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?
The Marketing program at the Wisconsin School of Business is among the top 10 in the US; my students are smarter than me, highly capable, and remarkably accomplished. I bring the experience that comes with age; I know the rewards of curiosity, the consequences of cutting corners, and the value of facing one’s own shortcomings head-on. We make a formidable team—because I both teach and learn from them.
What is most challenging?
Sometimes they’re laser-focused on success in business. It’s important to convey that reading literature and history, building relationships with people who are as different from them as possible, exploring the world, making time for things they find fulfilling, and striving to discover new passions, will make them better at both business and life.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious.
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student:
Indifferent.
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … a monster; someone who should be—by statute or ordinance—prohibited from owning, possessing, using, or outsourcing the use of a red pen for the purpose of providing feedback in the context of formal or informal assessments, be it in quantitative or qualitative form, upon penalty of serving an indefinite term at a penal colony. And if they did describe me as such, just wait till their evaluation forms come back from the Fingerprint Lab.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies?
I travel, hunt for obscure books, movies, and music, collect unusual things, love the sea, museums, and being around friends. It’s remarkable how things that sound so ordinary can feel so extraordinary.
How will you spend your summer?
I’ll travel somewhere with my mom, without whose support and encouragement I’d be living in a van down by the river, spend more time with my best friend, and work on consulting projects.
Favorite place(s) to vacation:
Reykjavik, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Geneva, Athens, Mont St Michel, Masai Mara, Lizard Island, Mt Cook (NZ), and Elcho (WI).
Favorite book(s):
My list of favorites includes 148 books; when a student occasionally asks this question, I offer to share the 16 page list of titles and short descriptions, causing them to scream and run away.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much?
Casablanca; the script is a masterpiece, the acting unsurpassed, and many of the film’s classic lines have become mainstream expressions that have endured for 80 years. Add Sleuth (1972), On Golden Pond, Goodbye Mr. Chips (1940), Dead Poets Society, He Loves Me/He Loves Me Not, Out of Africa, Dawn Patrol, The Maltese Falcon, Europa-Europa, and Father Goose, and you’ll have a solid top ten list none of my students have ever seen.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why?
Charles Aznavour, Tom Waits, Luca, Nana Mouskouri, Barry White, The Police, The Beatles, Michel Berger, Yael Naim, Frank Sinatra, Machine Gun Kelly, Gus Dapperton, Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi, Eevee, Keshi, France Gall, Ray Charles, Itzhak Perlman, Shawn Mendes, Maria Callas, Joshua Bell—because variety is the spice of life.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this:
An emphasis on fostering curiosity, developing skills, and promoting innovation, generously and enthusiastically supported by alumni and corporate partners, delivered in the context of a customer service culture with a free can of Bureaucracy-B-Gone spray.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at …
Differentiating the way they recruit, interview, and hire the very best talent, continuously investing in their people’s leadership development, being bold about trying new ideas (with value being a more important criterion than cost), and doing expertly-conducted research to inform decisions that impact their customers, employees, and culture.
I’m grateful for …
Those who were generous with their love, friendship, kindness, patience, time, and wisdom, and for those who afforded me the privilege of paying it forward.
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