Wheaton Blog

Sam Kwachie is the Business Department’s newest Professor of the Practice. Since starting in July, he has taught a variety of courses inlcuding Accounting, Corporate Finance, and Securities Markets, Insurance, and Risk Management. 

Before coming to Wheaton, Professor Kwachie had a diverse professional background outside academia. He studied investment banking in London, started working in mergers and acquisitions, and then transitioned to teaching. He discovered a love for teaching and “wanted to bring that knowledge and everything that I had studied in investment banking and all of the other financial service industries and to bring it into teaching.”

When Kwachie is not teaching, he researches capital structure. This is how companies are financed in terms of their debt-to-equity proportions. 

In terms of his teaching career before Wheaton, Kwachie taught business at Babson College and Boston University.

As for how he transitioned from these larger, well-known business schools to Wheaton, Kwachie said he was drawn to the size of Wheaton’s business department. He said, “Wheaton has a relatively smaller department, and I wanted to be part of its growth.” 

When speaking with the Chair of the Business Department, Dr. Leanna Lawter, Kwachie found that the vision for the department was something that he wanted to be a part of. Sam shared that he “wanted to see students gain from all the things that I have studied and learned in my journey of teaching across these business schools.” 

Regarding how Wheaton’s business department stands out from his previous departments, Kwachie again credits the size of Wheaton and its potential for growth. He also appreciates the strong diversity of the department and states that “our faculty collaborate so well, everybody is so supportive, and it’s just wonderful.”

As for his hopes for the future of the department, Kwachie hopes it grows stronger and introduces more majors. He “wants to introduce courses that are very industry-relevant.” He also wants “a future where more companies will directly recruit from Wheaton.” 

As for what advice he would give current students, Kwachie recommends that Wheaton students take advantage of internship opportunities so that “by the time they graduate, they have as many internships as possible” to add to their resumes. He strongly encourages students to take advantage of any other job-related opportunities as well.

Kwachie wants his students to be “marketable, to position themselves in a way that they are ahead of the curve of other candidates.” He believes that students should network while they are in school and that networking is crucial for employment after college. In the meantime, he wants students to “enjoy the school, have fun, learn, and network positively.”

Outside of the classroom, Kwachie is involved in a lot of charity work in Ghana, particularly related to healthcare and education. He also enjoys aviation and is working towards a private pilot’s license for fixed wing aircrafts. 

Categories:
• Business & Management