Business Spotlight: Albert Williams Stays in Tune with Students

If you’ve ever heard Albert Williams play his Fender Stratocaster axe, you would think his chosen profession was music. But on the contrary, teaching business at NSU is his full-time gig.

Albert Williams, Ph.D., the Chair and Associate Professor of Finance and Economics

Williams, Ph.D., the Chair and Associate Professor of Finance and Economics, says his guitar reflects his “artistic side.” But don’t be surprised if a jam session breaks out in one of his classes, he says. He’s been known to mix music and business when the situation calls for it.

Besides entertaining and educating students at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Williams’ life has been full of adventures and exciting job opportunities.

But he doesn’t brag about his career. He brags about his students. In fact, his office walls are adorned with accolades he has received from some of the thousands of students that have crossed his path. Williams was nominated and received a Student Life Achievement Award, or STUEY, for Professor of the Year in 2017.

“I don’t teach economics and finance,” Williams says. “I teach people. I encourage, motivate, and care about my students.”

Williams says his recipe for student success is to help them grow by seeing how they can improve their lives from the knowledge gained from his classes. His lectures tap into his prior professional career, which enables Williams to share a variety of real-world examples with his students.

Before coming to NSU in 2003, Williams was a jack of many trades: a high school math teacher, banker, agricultural economist, CEO of an agricultural marketing firm, and analyst for Burger King Corporation.

He takes those experiences to the classroom and combines them with his ability to dissect complicated economic concepts and make them easier to understand. But he doesn’t stop there.

“I also bring current issues to class and have students discuss them,” Williams says. “This makes economics and finance more applied and alive!”

During his years at NSU, Williams has become a Shark through and through. He is the faculty adviser for the Graduate Business Student Association (GBSA). In this role he helps student leaders practice leadership by developing projects and implementing them for the benefit of all students. He also has played an active role in the Honors College and still speaks to new students and parents on the importance of being in the college.

When it comes to undergraduate recruitment, he doesn’t hesitate to speak to parent groups and answer their questions while promoting the advantages of attending NSU.

Williams also takes his expertise to the airwaves from time to time appearing on television and radio as one of NSU’s business experts. NBC and PBS have featured him locally and he frequently provides expert opinions on Love FM in Belize, his country of origin.

Despite his many roles, Williams’ headliner is teaching, which he considers as much an art form as playing his guitar.

“You have to put passion and knowledge into it and that makes learning exciting for students,” he says.

Posted 05/20/22