Mark Wolters inspires students and impresses industry peers with his dynamic approach to teaching, which blends his passion for marketing with real-world experiences and a life-long love of travel.

The Gies College of Business teaching associate professor of business administration has earned multiple national and campus teaching awards. This past year, he won the Distinguished Teacher Award from The Society for Marketing Advances (SMA) and received the Student Success Impact Award from the University of Illinois.

“This award is an incredible testament to the powerful impact Mark has had on the lives of students at Illinois,” said Kevin Jackson, vice provost of undergraduate education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a colleague of Wolters'.

Wolters also has been named one of Poets&Quants’ Top 50 Undergraduate Professors and earned the 2023 Marketing Management Association’s Master Teacher Award.

Wanderlust shapes career path

Wolters’ journey, which began in Quincy, IL, has taken him around the globe and back, shaping him into an educator who equips students with the tools they need to succeed in the ever-evolving marketing landscape.

In addition to teaching Principles of Marketing (BADM 320) to more than 1,000 students each year, Wolters also has taught undergraduates Advanced Marketing Management (BADM 420), Business to Business Marketing (BADM 327), and Social Media Marketing (BADM 395) as well as business strategy, entrepreneurship and consumer behavior at other institutions.

On the first day of every semester, Wolters tells students, “If I don’t prepare you for what is outside that door, I will have failed you.”

Wolters’ C.R.A.Z.Y. approach to teaching

Wolters calls his teaching philosophy C.R.A.Z.Y. At the SMA conference, where he competed against top educators from around the world, he described his philosophy: Caring about students, using Realistic examples, incorporating Actual Experiences and industry expertise, bringing Zeal to teaching every concept, and remembering that You can make a big difference in their lives.

“I’m always looking for ways to connect with students, whether it’s through relevant case studies, content creation, or something as simple as making eye contact with every person in the lecture hall,” said Wolters. “I’m always enthusiastic, but I am also realistic about how they learn. Their experience should not be to memorize definitions and regurgitate concepts.”

Wolters achieves this by drawing upon his international teaching experiences, partnership with corporate clients, and social media videos that deliver engaging, relatable real-world examples.

“I took his 8 a.m. class, and even though I’m not a morning person I don’t remember missing a class -- it was that engaging,” said Valeria Rohde (BA ’18). “Whether it was Mark sprinting across the stage while teaching a lesson, getting us to share a photo of a student sleeping in class, giving out his Wolters World YouTube channel t-shirts, or signing my class book when I wasn’t looking, this was one of my favorite classes in college. It is obvious Mark is passionate about teaching and students are lucky to learn from him.”

Offering a global perspective

Wolters’ early international experiences, including studying abroad and teaching in Lithuania, sparked his passion for teaching and desire to help students succeed. A high school exchange student from South Africa encouraged him to pursue the Rotary Youth Exchange program, and he graduated a year early to spend a year in Finland before college.

“I loved that everything was different, not just the food but the culture and how people interacted with one another,” said Wolters, who then followed his dad, brother, and cousins to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and immediately began exploring more study abroad opportunities, including a summer in Austria and a semester in Argentina.

After graduating with a marketing degree from Gies Business in 1999, he interned as a stockbroker’s assistant and quickly discovered that wasn’t the career path for him. He earned his master’s degree in economics and management sciences from Humboldt University in Berlin in 2002. Wolters then worked as a consultant in Lithuania for Brandscape for three years before pursuing his doctorate in management at the Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa. He returned to Illinois as a visiting assistant professor in 2011.

Making real-world connections

Wolters is known for incorporating real-world, relatable examples and marketing projects into his syllabi.

“I’ll never forget the day he started class and didn’t say anything for two minutes--which was very unusual--and let us continue to chat and look at our computers,” said Joseph Maiorana (BA ’14). “Miley Cyrus had just dropped her Wrecking Ball video and everyone in the world was talking about it. He used the moment to teach about viral content and that brands don’t always need to create paid advertising to capture a consumer’s attention.”

Wolters’ passion for teaching extends beyond the classroom. During the pandemic, he raised money for the Gies Emergency Scholarship Fund with a 15-hour livestream teaching marathon for his entire Principles of Marketing course. Wolters also supports students by creating  custom textbooks and course materials. They provide affordable, relevant resources for his students, incorporating case studies of brands like Coke and his personal favorite example, Culver’s. To teach the concept of service marketing, he asks students to share their experiences with firms such as Comcast and the University’s financial aid department then brainstorm potential business solutions.

 
Sharing expertise with business educators

Wolters is also committed to supporting and mentoring faculty at business schools around the world. He shares teaching resources and best practices through his Professor Wolters YouTube channel and in-person collaborations. It has become a lifeline for new professors looking to engage students in large lecture halls and create memorable coursework.

But his most effective teaching tool grew from his passion for travel. Wolters World has more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube thanks to its mix of viral videos and practical tips that also demonstrate the power of social media.

“It’s another form of outreach for the Gies Business brand,” said Wolters. “With a quarter of a billion views, Wolters World gives me social media street cred and a way to reach students, faculty, and marketing professionals in an entertaining, yet educational format.”  

Shaping the future of marketing education
Wolters is committed to continuously updating his teaching methods and curriculum to stay ahead of emerging trends in marketing, such as the integration of AI and data analytics, as well as meet today’s business challenges.

“This program was very beneficial to our firm,” said Brad Roell, owner of Blue Brick Construction. “The students were very passionate about their work and helped shine a light on some of the deficiencies in our marketing plan.”

“Consumer behavior and marketing research aren’t going away, but we’re exploring ways to teach these concepts in a way that incorporates advances in technology,” said Wolters, who is also academic director for the marketing major at Gies.

“AI and machine learning creates endless opportunities to improve how students learn to apply marketing analytics, social media, and digital marketing,” he said. “I’m looking forward to helping Gies continue to elevate our reputation as a leader in teaching marketing to undergraduate and advanced degree students.”