Finance Department

Jason Turkiela - 2026 Star Educator

At what point did you realize you'd like to teach?
I'd been told a few times when I was younger that I might make a good teacher, but coming from a working-class background, my focus was always on financial security, so I never considered it seriously. After a few years in industry and feeling unfulfilled, the thought returned, and I went back to pursue my PhD.
 

What is a highlight of your teaching career and why?
I think serving as a faculty mentor for the CFA Research Challenge. In my regular courses, I'm both "coach" and "referee," teaching students and grading them at the same time, and those two roles are always a little at odds. Since someone else does the grading here, I get to be purely a coach, helping a team build the best product they can. It's the closest thing to my old industry work that I still get to be part of. The skills we cover in class only mean anything once students use them under pressure, in front of people who do this for a living. Watching that click, and seeing where those students land afterward, is what I'd point to as the highlight

What is the most surprising thing you've encountered while teaching?
I suppose it's how much weight a small thing can carry. When former students reach out, it's sometimes about the lectures, but just as often it's a passing comment or some advice I gave them after class that turned out to stay with them for years. You never really know which moment is going to be the one that matters to someone.