Exeter MBA professor selected as one of ‘best under 40’

A University of Exeter Business School economist has been named one of the best young MBA educators in the world.

Professor Oliver Hauser has been selected for the Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors 2024 list, compiled by business education publication Poets&Quants.

His outstanding teaching practice and research stood out among 1,000 nominations for 150 academics.

“It is a great honour to be named on the Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors 2024 list. For students and faculty to have put their trust in me makes me feel truly humbled, and I must thank them for recognising me in this way,” said Professor Hauser, who is a Professor in Economics as well as Deputy Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Professor Hauser joined the Business School in 2018 after his PhD and academic posts at Harvard University, where he continues to be a Faculty Affiliate for the Sustainability, Transparency & Accountability Research (STAR) Initiative.

Professor Hauser is driven in his research and teaching by the idea of making an impact for the public good.

His research, which has been published in leading academic journals including Nature and PNAS, focuses on inequality and cooperation in organisations, society and the environment as well as methodological advances in research such as field experiments and AI.

His work on the power of institutions on promoting cooperation towards future generations and the role of inequality on cooperation has garnered interest from policy-makers and academics alike, and led to follow-up work with organisations such as Deepmind.

As an educator, Professor Hauser describes himself as a meticulous planner and someone who is happy to spend extra time to make sure classes are interesting and enjoyable.

His classes often contain a twist at the end, designed to reinforce learning and make lessons more memorable – something students have described as a ‘magic trick’.

Professor Hauser told Poets&Quants that he knew he wanted to work at a business school after realizing how it could provide “unparalleled access to leaders of real-world organizations and governments” where he could make a significant difference to people’s lives.

“This potential for impact for the public good immediately appealed to me, and I have been fortunate, over the years, to experience the full range of enriching experiences that can lead to such transformative change and impact, from teaching MBA and executives to researching and advising the world’s most impactful organizations,” Professor Hauser said.

Professor Donald Lancaster, Director of the Exeter MBA programme, said: “We are thrilled and proud that Oliver has been named on the prestigious Poets&Quants Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors list. It’s a well-deserved accolade that is testament to both his individual excellence as a teacher and the programme’s high teaching standards as a whole, inspiring leaders for a better world.”

Professor David Boughey, Interim Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of the University of Exeter Business School, said: “This is an outstanding achievement and I am so pleased that the rigour, creativity and commitment to making a social impact that is evident in both Oliver’s teaching practice and research have been recognised.”

The Poets&Quants Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors list aims to identify the most talented young professors currently teaching on MBA programs around the world. Nominees are received from students, colleagues, administrators and academics. The nominations are then evaluated by the publication’s editorial staff on the strength of their teaching (70% weighting) and research (30%).

Find out more about the Best 40 Under 40 MBA list here.