Mark Johnson
Enhancing Education

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family with parents who owned several McDonald’s franchises, Mark Johnson received early exposure to the ins and outs of the business world. Along with owning a restaurant business, Johnson’s father also worked as a certified public accountant, and he always made sure to iterate the value of continuing education.

“Business and finance were instilled in me at a very young age,” he says. “My parents always focused on academics, and they encouraged us to get advanced degrees.”

Johnson studied finance in undergrad at Florida State University before earning master’s degrees in finance and financial economics from Florida International University and the University of New Orleans, respectively. He continued that study at UNO, earning a Ph.D. in financial economics in 2010.

During his studies, Johnson not only fell in love with finance and economics, but also with academia.

“I love being in the classroom,” he says. “I do research, but the classroom is really where I come alive. Teaching and having fun with the students—it’s the best.”

Johnson serves as Faculty Fellow in Investments and Portfolio Management, as well as a professor teaching both undergrad and MBA students about investments. In that graduate class, Johnson’s students get hands-on experience making investments in a way most would never expect.

“It’s an experiential learning course where the students get to manage real money for the school,” Johnson says. “Dean (Annette L.) Ranft has entrusted me and the students with around $900,000 of real money to invest.”

After instructing his students on investing, Johnson allows them to do their own research and present the companies they recommend for investment. The class votes on the best option and invests the money in the fund. Johnson says the class has been a hit among students because it takes finance from the theoretical and gives students real-world experience managing money.

“Students tell me they love this course because it’s real,” he says. “They’re learning about companies they wouldn’t know about otherwise, and it’s more than just earning a grade for them because there is real money on the line.”

Johnson says his classes, both for undergraduates and in the MBA program, focus on demystifying finance and allowing students to have conversations about money they might not otherwise feel comfortable having.

“Instead of it being awkward because we’re all taught you’re not supposed to talk about money, in this class, we’re talking about it,” he says. “And it’s OK to have these conversations and ask questions.”

Offering students real-world exposure to the financial world extends beyond Johnson’s classes. He regularly accompanies the Pre‐Wall Street Career Track students on trips to financial centers such as New York City and Charlotte with faculty colleagues Marty Malloy and others. And this spring, he will take a group of Wake Forest MBA students to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Athens, Greece. The students will visit businesses, learning about conducting business abroad and specific topics such as Greece’s economic recovery and the principles of Islamic finance. “They’ll experience a different financial system where charging interest is not permitted under Islamic law” Johnson says. “I want them to see that there’s more than one way to approach finance.”

Johnson says immersive experiences such as this are only possible due to the support of the School of Business and the greater Wake Forest community. Whether investing university funds or taking students on an eye-opening jaunt across the globe, Johnson says Wake gives him the freedom to use creative methods to teach his students about finance, giving them real-world experience that will take them far beyond his classroom.

“Wake has given me more than I could’ve imagined from a support perspective,” he says. “I have research support, I’m able to travel with our students and go to conferences, and I’ve been allowed to be a steward of the school’s money—it’s a privilege and an honor that I don’t take lightly.”