Blair Flicker
Darla Moore School of Business
University of South Carolina
“From the first day in his class, Professor Flicker was energetic and engaging. He found a way to make long, complicated lectures both fun as well as memorable. He stands out above all professors I have taken as one who cares not only about his students’ grades, but about them as a whole. He set aside an entire class period to discuss mental health and make sure we were all aware of avaliable resources and support. Truthfully an incredible professor and person.” – Jacob Besser
Blair Flicker, 42, is an Assistant Professor of Management Science at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. His research examines how human behavior interacts with technology in operational settings, with a focus on improving human–algorithm collaboration. He also studies how people respond to different ways waits are described on websites and apps.
Flicker’s work has been published in Management Science, the leading journal in his field, and has received multiple honors, including the 2024 Management Science Best Paper Award in Operations Management and several best paper and presentation awards at major conferences. His research has also been supported by the National Science Foundation.
At the Moore School, Flicker teaches the core undergraduate course in Operations Management, where he consistently earns outstanding teaching evaluations. Before joining academia, he served as Assistant Provost at the University of Texas at Dallas while completing his PhD.
At current institution since what year? 2019
Education: PhD Management Science (Operations), The University of Texas at Dallas; MBA, The University of Texas at Dallas; BS Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; BS Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Operations Management
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I finished my MBA and started thinking carefully about what I wanted in life. I reflected on how much I loved being part of the academic world—the classes, the ideas, the sense of community, and the wonderfully strange things that sometimes happen on college campuses. I didn’t want to leave it all behind, and pursuing a PhD gave me the chance to stay.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? A recent project examines how people behave when faced with a wait on a website or app and how that behavior changes as a function of how the wait is described. We find that people act as if they’re twice as patient when waits are framed as a position in line rather than as an amount of time remaining. Why? We find that people systematically underestimate how long position-based waits actually take, even when given precise information about the time required for each person ahead. It’s a simple insight with broad implications: managers can meaningfully influence customer behavior just by changing how they describe a waiting experience.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … doing something else—it’s hard to know the counterfactual. The most likely alternatives are probably pretty close to what I actually do now—perhaps data science for a company or some other administrative job at a university. However, if I let my imagination run wild, I can envision lots of other paths: sushi chef, musician, arborist, stay-at-home dad, or LifeWorks tutor (my brother runs an amazing tutoring company in Marin County, CA).
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? In course evaluations, students often mention that I genuinely care about them. Honestly, I think most professors care about their students, but what may stand out are the ways I try to make my concern visible. I talk openly in class about student safety and mental health, I reach out individually whenever a student misses class to check in, and I remind students that there are more important things in life than grades.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Lightheaded.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: You don’t need to fit some notion of a prototypical “business professor.” Just show up authentically and be honest. Students respond to sincerity more than to polish. My working hypothesis is this: What truly sticks with students are connections, life lessons, and (maybe) basic skills. Everything else is window dressing.
Professor I most admire and why: Milind Dawande taught a course on deterministic models during the first year of my PhD, and he embodied an extraordinary mix of interpersonal gentleness and intellectual ferocity. There were just six of us in the class, and he insisted that each student engage—no one escaped participation. He would wait, painfully patient, for a response, and if any comment was misguided, he would produce a proof on the spot to demonstrate it. The experience felt like being hit by a train—but somehow in a way that made you grateful for the impact. Milind died unexpectedly last year. Students can no longer experience his classroom firsthand. All I can do now is strive to emulate what made it so unforgettable.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students?I like the energy and activity that surround business students. They’re constantly collaborating—meeting with friends to work on homework, joining professional fraternities and student groups, participating in case competitions and hackathons, and helping each other find internships. It’s a vibrant, student-driven ecosystem that exists alongside the formal academic structure that I’m part of. I like that they’ve built their own thing.
What is most challenging? Students’ laser focus on grades can sometimes narrow their openness to genuine learning. I understand why GPAs carry such weight for students—it’s the metric by which they’ve been measured, ranked, and rewarded for most of their lives. But that mindset can lead them to dismiss as irrelevant any discussion not tied directly to an exam. From my perspective, though, the ideas that aren’t tested are often the most valuable ones.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Intentional.
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Transactional.
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as …tough but fair. I explain exactly how grading works at the beginning of the semester and make sure to apply those standards consistently. I find that being clear and transparent helps students feel the process is equitable and predictable.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? I have a few “traditional” hobbies that I pursue simply because they bring me joy. I play guitar—usually electric, experimenting with effects and chasing interesting sounds. I love planting and caring for trees, especially Japanese maples, and I enjoy cooking elaborate meals when I have the time. Most of my free time, though, revolves around my kids—reading together, helping with projects, and cheering them on at gymnastics meets and dance performances. These bring me joy too, so perhaps they also count as hobbies.
How will you spend your summer? I will be working on research. For me that means running online economic experiments (simulations that focus on decision making), analyzing the results of these experiments, and describing the results in research papers. My tenure review is coming up, so this is crunch time!
Favorite place(s) to vacation: The South Carolina coast is really lovely and close at hand. Kiawah Island in particular is great for a weekend escape.
Favorite book(s): “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse—a reflective tale of self-discovery. It was assigned reading in a high school English class, and it became the first book that truly drew me in. I remember analyzing it quite deeply not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I still return to it often, and it continues to offer something new each time.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? “Life is Beautiful,” a touching Italian film by Roberto Benigni. It’s the story of a man who gives his son the greatest gift imaginable—he reshapes a world of oppression into one of love and wonder, showing that dignified resistance is possible even in the darkest of circumstances.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I have pretty eclectic tastes. I’m drawn to music that’s atmospheric, reflective, and a little off the beaten path. Often that means stripped-down indie songs or layered electronic sounds in minor keys, though I can still appreciate a well-crafted hit that sits right in the middle of the most well-trodden path.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this … problems that don’t have “right” answers. In school, students often encounter problems neatly paired with their solutions—a farmer needs to fence a circular field, so we calculate the circumference. But real-world problems rarely come with formulas attached. The more meaningful questions—how the farmer can best use the land, whether to grow crops or develop it, and how those choices might affect the community—require judgment, creativity, and trade-offs rather than a single “right” answer.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … using automation to make customer experiences better—not just cheaper. The goal shouldn’t be to replace people, but rather to recognize where human workers still outperform machines and enable those workers to do more of that work. Having access to an inexpensive, competent assistant should only make companies better at what they do, and yet the wholesale replacement of humans with chatbots or automated systems often makes things worse.
I’m grateful for … the chance to do this job at all. Each year, I get to connect with hundreds of 20-year-olds and glimpse how the world looks through their eyes. At the same time, I have the privilege of planting a few ideas in their minds just before they head out to start their careers—“whispering into the ears of princes,” as Nobel Laureate Alvin Roth described it.
DON’T MISS THE ENTIRE ROSTER OF 2025’s 50 BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSORS.
© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.
