On the first day of class every semester, Bruce Money shows his students one of his favorite quotes, a saying from Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness.” As the Fred Meyer Professor of Marketing and the executive director of the Whitmore Global Business Center (GBC) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Money encourages his students to travel and further expand their views of the world.
Money’s own worldview first expanded as a 19-year-old when he spent two years serving a mission in Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he returned home and started his studies at BYU, he decided to minor in Japanese and major in English. After graduating in 1983, Money went on to earn his MBA from Harvard Business School. He then worked for three years as a vice president of a Japanese bank located in Los Angeles.
After working for the bank, Money decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and earn a PhD. Money attended the University of California Irvine, where he wrote his dissertation on international marketing in Japan. After graduating in 1995, Money landed a job at the University of South Carolina (UofSC).
Money was a professor at UofSC for nine years. Shortly after he received tenure at the university, Money received an offer to join BYU Marriott. The decision to stay at UofSC or come to BYU was a difficult one for Money, who loved his job in South Carolina and valued his position. “Eventually I voluntarily gave up my tenure at UofSC because my wife and I love the mission of BYU,” he says. “The goal of BYU students to ‘enter to learn and go forth to serve’ is what drives me, and I hope that mission also motivates my students.”
Money accepted the position to teach marketing at BYU Marriott in 2004 and has been at the school ever since. He served as the department chair of business management, now known as the Department of Marketing and Global Supply Chain, from 2009–14. Money primarily came to help build BYU Marriott’s international business programs, which he does through teaching a variety of classes, including global management classes for the MBA program.
In 2014, as an extension of his efforts to grow the international business programs, Money was appointed the director of the GBC, a center that offers numerous study abroad programs. He loves being involved with the GBC and frequently leads these programs, which allows him to travel internationally alongside his students. “I’ve now visited more than 70 countries, and many of those visits were with my students, which is absolutely fantastic,” says Money.
Traveling internationally is not the only way Money spends time with his students outside of class. He owns an acre of land, and once a semester, Money invites his students to his home to spend time with him and his wife. “My wife loves animals, so we have lots of animals—cats, dogs, chickens—whatever you can think of. Every year we have students over for what we call ‘farm home evening.’ Usually, we have hundreds of students and their families over on our property, and we love entertaining everyone.”
After 17 years at BYU Marriott, Money still feels grateful to be teaching and building relationships with students at BYU Marriott. “This is my dream job. I pinch myself every time I wake up and realize I still work for BYU,” he says. “I look forward to each day with my students—they’ve helped make my experience in Provo truly unforgettable.
"If I could tell my students one thing, I would echo what I tell my own children: I love you, I trust you, I respect you, and I appreciate you,” he continues. “I’m so grateful the world is in good hands with our students as the next generation of leaders and builders.”
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Writer: Sarah Calvert