Edwyn (Ed) Tiryakian, Lecturing Fellow of Markets and Management, has been named among Duke's top 5% of undergraduate instructors, according to student evaluations.
Tiryakian has had an illustrious career spanning multiple different industries, including over 20 years working in investment banking and working as a high-profile sports agent to former Duke players. He began teaching with the MMS certificate over a decade ago and brings his knowledge and experiences from these industries into the classroom. Tiryakian teaches some of the program's most popular courses, including Business of Sport and Managerial Finance.
One thing that keeps Tiryakian at Duke is how much he enjoys interacting with students.
“There is this energy and interaction between someone who wants to learn and someone who knows something," he said. That energy and interaction has kept him and his students excited about his courses, even as the courses have changed over time.
He notes that today's students are much more entrepreneurial than when he began teaching.
“I’ve had to adjust my courses accordingly to get away from more traditional corporate finance to corporate finance with a more entrepreneurial slant," he said.
But even with this newer influence on entrepreneurship, he is adamant to teach students the skills they will need regardless of the business path they take. "If you have the greatest idea in the world and it is changing lead into gold, you still need a business plan to do it," he tells his students.
Even though students’ interests may change over time, he is still encouraged to consistently see new students come to MMS every semester with a desire to learn, and he is eager to teach them.
Markets Management Studies