2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Lauren Eskreis-Winkler
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

“First of all, I want to acknowledge how incredibly you ended our last class yesterday. In my second-last quarter at Kellogg, I’ve never had a professor write a personalized letter of gratitude to our section or offer to write our parents a second-grade-style report card (mine would love one!), and I’ve never felt like my life has been so truly improved for the better by class content. Thank you for your fantastic enthusiasm for the class and your commitment to our learning. This class was spectacular.” – Student comment

Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, 38, is an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Her research has been published in academic journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Psychological Science. Her work has been discussed in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, the BBC, and other popular media outlets.

She has collaborated with Fortune 500 Companies, professional sports teams, and the World Bank.

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? 2021
Education: BA from the University of Pennsylvania; PhD in Psychology from University of Pennsylvania
List of MBA courses you currently teach: Think Like a Behavioral Scientist

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I realized it checked the best career advice I ever got. My Mother advised I find a job so rewarding and fulfilling that I’d do it if no one paid me.

I would absolutely do this job if no one paid me (don’t tell Northwestern).
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I research resilience and the human ability to bounce back from failure.

I hope my most significant discovery is the one I make next.

If I weren’t a business school professor… I’d be homeschooling my wonderful kids.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? That I was raised by my Mom, Dr. Beverly D. Eskreis. My Mom was an amazing person and amazing people are always incredible teachers. My childhood was a front row seat to kindness, ingenuity, and excellence in action. If anything I do as a teacher stands out, it’s because something about my Mother (maybe, hopefully) rubbed off.

One word that describes my first time teaching: Exciting.

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: Nothing. I was unbelievably well-prepared for this job by three world-class mentors: Dr. Angela Duckworth, Dr. Ayelet Fishbach, and Dr. Katy Milkman. I am grateful to them each time I walk into my office.

Professor I most admire and why: My father. He is a professor and I became a professor because of him. I’ve always admired how much fulfillment he gets from his work, his humility (a rare quality in academia!), and that despite how much he loves his career, he always puts family first.

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Kobe Bryant described his passion for basketball by saying the sport made him feel more alive.

My favorite thing about teaching is that my students make me feel more alive. They stretch me to be the funnest, warmest, most alive version of myself.

What is most challenging? The tremendous opportunity costs. Each day that I teach is a day I don’t make progress on research. Each night I’m having a ball with my MBA students is a night I’ve missed with my kids that I’ll never get back.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: No favorites! I genuinely like them all.

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: That word would be “nonexistent.” See above.

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Unconventional.

Each quarter, to supplement standard grades, I offer to email my students’ parents an elementary-school-style narrative report card on their kid. The replies I get back from students’ parents (“Thanks, I haven’t heard about Johnny’s progress since he was in middle school!”) are the highlight of my academic year.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? I am a tenure-track professor with three young kids. What are hobbies?

How will you spend your summer? Reading, writing, researching, traveling.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: Who needs vacation when your office overlooks Lake Michigan?

Favorite book(s): Gifts of the Heart, by Rabbi Abraham A. Levene zt”l. I’ve been forever changed by the book, its wondrous author, and it’s loving compiler, Mrs. Choni Levene.

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I like anything with an inspiring protagonist.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? Favorite music is classical piano, with a predilection for concertos.

Favorite artists are Glenn Gould and Lady Gaga. Their musicality is breathtaking.

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… If I had my way, universities of the future would treat hate speech against Jews the same way they treat hate speech against other groups. Which is to say, it wouldn’t be tolerated.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… creating cultures in which they would want their own kids to work. In other words, more attention needs to be paid to the dignity and well-being of the individual. What can I say, I’m a psychologist.

I’m grateful for… My husband, my husband, and my husband. I don’t have three husbands. I’m just really grateful for my husband. He’s the catch of a lifetime.

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