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Professor honored with听teaching award for enthusiasm, engagement and his Advanced Analytics course.鈥�

About a decade ago, when Dan Zhang was first approached to create a business analytics course, conventional wisdom dictated that it should be built around Excel modeling.听

But Zhang ultimately went in a different direction, instead focusing on teaching the R programming language.听

鈥淧rogramming was not something that was taught in a business school 10 years ago,鈥� said Zhang, a professor and interim chair of the Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Operations Division at Leeds. 鈥淭oday, of course, that鈥檚 a requirement of any program in this area.鈥澨�

At commencement, Zhang was honored by the Leeds MBA Class of 2022 with a teaching award for the Advanced Data Analytics course鈥攁 testament not just to his teaching ability, but the work he鈥檚 done to keep the course current. R has gone from edgy to a staple in the data science world; over time, Leeds has added Python, SQL and other data technologies to master鈥檚 programs like its degree in business analytics.听

鈥淚鈥檓 very fortunate that so many of my students enjoy the course, and say it鈥檚 valuable for their growth and career,鈥� Zhang said of his Advanced Data Analytics class. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 so rewarding to me as a teacher.鈥�

Christina Uhlir (MSBA鈥�21) said Zhang was among 鈥渢he most-loved professors of anyone in the program.鈥澨�

鈥淗e would make sure everything he taught was directly applicable to real-life situations,鈥� said Uhlir, an analyst with Arrow Electronics who also earned a degree in neuroscience from 精品SM在线影片 in 2013. 鈥淢ost of the cases he presented, because he worked as a consultant so long, were just right there.鈥澨�

She also called him a great mentor who was 鈥済ood at fomenting interest in alternative careers. He helped a couple of my peers get started in more niche industries that can be harder to break into.鈥澨�

In the course, Zhang teaches practical programming skills that have immediate applicability at work. He includes both case studies and his own technical consulting work to ensure that 鈥渨hatever technology I introduce, there is a real-world emphasis that supports the business case for these skills. That focus on business value is what sets the course apart.鈥澨�

While technical courses like this one often are at the core of specialized master鈥檚 programs, they don鈥檛 always show up in an MBA curriculum. At Leeds, though, lessons in analytics and data鈥檚 ability to drive better decision making are a central part of an education. The newest academic building at the 精品SM在线影片鈥攖he Rustandy Building鈥攑hysically joins the business and engineering disciplines, a powerful symbol of the joint research and academic programs Leeds and the College of Engineering & Applied Science.听

Teaching tech to not be intimidating

鈥淚t鈥檚 important that we remove the sense of intimidation students can feel about technology,鈥� Zhang said. 鈥淲e have students in the business analytics master鈥檚 program with degrees in history, or music, or Russian鈥攝ero background in coding鈥攁nd I would tell them that鈥檚 the value of these programs. They鈥檙e for people who want to change their careers, and we鈥檒l work with you, starting slow and teaching you in a way that鈥檚 accessible, regardless of your technical acumen.鈥澨�

His own curiosity about technology, unsurprisingly, drives his work.

鈥淚鈥檓 very passionate about programming,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 code a lot in my research, consulting and teaching, but I want students to keep perspective of what we鈥檙e really doing. Being able to work with technical tools is great, but it鈥檚 more valuable to know how and when to apply them to real problems.鈥� 听

That鈥檚 a theme of Zhang鈥檚 research interests, which he simply described as 鈥渁lways evolving鈥�; data-driven decision making is a key focus, and insights in this and related areas have appeared in top research journals, including Management Science and Operations Research. His insights in areas like dynamic programming and revenue management and pricing help him keep the analytics course fresh amid so much change.听

鈥淭here鈥檚 always something new that comes up every year,鈥� he said. 鈥淔rankly, if you do not do updates, you can鈥檛 keep up to date with industry. It鈥檚 a necessity.鈥澨�

For Uhlir, who completed her master鈥檚 during the pandemic, there was more to appreciate about the course than just how up to date it was.听

鈥淢aking those connections, when it鈥檚 virtual, can be hard, but he made it not hard,鈥� Uhlir said. 鈥淓very class, he would show up, turn on his camera and just ask how we were doing. He had the same enthusiasm for us that he did about his subject matter, and that just blew me away.鈥�

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