Michael Halling - MSc Teacher of the Year

Apr. 07, 2015

He has taught nearly everything within the field of Finance and emphasizes the importance of the practical parts, such as Excel, for finance students. Michael Halling is Associate Professor at the Department of Finance and was recently appointed MSc Teacher of the Year by the Stockholm School of Economics Student Association Education Committee.

– I try to be accessible to the students and really take time to answer their questions. Something that feels like a minor detail for me can make a big difference for a student, says Michael.

Michael Halling is from Austria and received his PhD in finance from the University of Vienna in 2006. In addition to the degree in finance he also holds a PhD in computer science, an area from which he draws much inspiration. Michael Halling feels that the academic world provides the room for in-depth discussion, curiosity and student – teacher exchange that he enjoys.

– I was teaching at the University of Utah before coming to Stockholm and I mostly use the same methods here as I did over there. Ideally it would be great to be able to hold classes in a PC-lab and I hope that we get a chance to do that in the future. Teaching is often more lecture based here than in the US. I still try to incorporate a lot of Excel in my courses, says Michael.

Michael Halling also has a great interest in ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance-related business practices sometimes also referred to as, socially responsible investing.

– Overall it’s a great topic and something that is important for society that we discuss. The one thing I would like to mention is that at the moment I think there is kind of a hype surrounding ESG. A lot of the issues connected to ESG have been covered already but are now being re-labelled and research that is not that serious is making it somewhat harder for everyone to maintain a constructive discussion on this topic. That’s why it’s even more important for academia and the industry to be communicating about what is working and what is less efficient, says Michael.