Saying Goodbye to BYU Marriott

PROVO, Utah – Apr 22, 2020 – For the last twenty years, Bryan Sudweeks has loved teaching the students in the BYU Marriott finance program. In his eyes, they are some of the best students, and he has enjoyed seeing—and helping—them succeed. Now as his own successful career comes to an end, he is finishing his last semester at BYU Marriott and moving on to the next chapter in his life.

From his time as an undergraduate student in BYU’s Mandarin Chinese program, Sudweeks knew that he wanted to teach at BYU, but he also recognized the value of gaining professional experience first. After completing his undergraduate degree in 1980, Sudweeks received his MBA from BYU Marriott in 1982 and then pursued his PhD from George Washington University. 

While pursuing his PhD, Sudweeks worked part-time at the World Bank and taught early-morning seminary. Before returning to teach at BYU, Sudweeks completed a successful career in the asset-management field. He was a partner and senior portfolio manager over Emerging Market products at Montgomery Asset Management in San Francisco, California. Sudweeks and his partner opened the first no-load open-ended mutual fund for emerging markets. He retired from that career at the age of forty-five and came back to BYU Marriott to join the finance department faculty.

Sudweeks has a passion for helping his student find success in their lives by applying what they learn in his classes. “I like being with the students and teaching them things that make a difference,” says Sudweeks. A big part of what he focuses on in his courses is finance theory and application. Sudweeks finds joy in sharing the knowledge he has gained from his career in the asset-management field with his students to help them find success in their own personal finances throughout their life.

In addition, in each of his classes, Sudweeks tries to focus on how to bring Christ into personal finance. He believes that when individuals bring Christ into their finances, they will be able to achieve balance and control. “If you want to change behavior, you have to not just understand the application of the temporal principle, such as living on a budget, for example, but what the guiding principles and doctrines of the gospel are as well,” says Sudweeks. 

Sudweeks is proud of the personal finance course he helped create on the BYU website (personalfinance.byu.edu), available for everyone to use, not just BYU students. “I tell people if you follow what I teach, I’ll save you $1 million over the course of your life,” says Sudweeks. When his students are planning their personal finances, Sudweeks encourages them to not only think about their life vision, goals, plans, and strategies, but also how they want to give back in the future. He believes individuals should set aside money for personal giving whether that be through service projects, gifts, or tithing.

In addition, Sudweeks is proud of the asset-management course he helped create with Jim Seaberg and Global Financial Advisors where undergraduate finance students have been managing $2 million in real money for the past fourteen years. This course allows students to not only leave BYU with an understanding of finance theory, but also with a year’s worth of experience in managing real assets in a student-run investment fund.

After twenty years, Sudweeks is grateful for the opportunity to teach at BYU Marriott. “I’ve always had the support of an amazing department and good people who’ve been there to help provide the resources that I needed,” he says. 

For Sudweeks, working with students in the finance program and seeing them do well in life has been the most rewarding experience of his teaching career and is something he will greatly miss. He and his wife plan on serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after he retires. 

Sudweeks came to teach at BYU because he believed that God had blessed him with great experiences and resources, and it was his responsibility to give back. Now as he prepares to serve a mission with his wife, he plans on continuing to give back, just in a new way.