The Foster School of Business is celebrating a remarkable double honor this year. Associate Teaching Professor Leta Beard and Paul Pigott-PACCAR Professor of Finance Jarrad Harford have been named to Poets&Quants’ 2025 list of the Best 50 Undergraduate Professors, a recognition that highlights both educators’ profound and personal impact on generations of Foster students.
Now in its eighth year, the “Best Undergraduate Professors” feature drew more than 1,200 nominations. For Foster, having two faculty members recognized in the same year highlights the school’s longstanding commitment to student-centered teaching and the conviction that great educators play a pivotal role in developing insightful leaders for the region and the world.
As the school celebrates Beard and Harford’s recognition, Frank Hodge, Orin and Janet Smith Dean of the Foster School of Business, said both professors embody the best of Foster’s teaching culture and the deep mentorship that defines the undergraduate experience.
“Teaching in the classroom is only part of the job — your job is to inspire, be a role model, motivate students to think critically and explore different areas of business so they can achieve their goals.”—Leta Beard
A Calling to Teach, a Commitment to Students: Leta Beard
For Associate Teaching Professor Leta Beard, the path to teaching began where many lifelong passions start: at home.
“I grew up in a family of educators,” she reflects. “The rebellious 18-year-old side of me decided that instead of teaching, I would major in business.”
That plan didn’t last long. As a graduate student at the University of Washington, she served as a teaching assistant and taught her first marketing course. Everything clicked. “I soon discovered my real passion—teaching,” she says. She continued teaching in the evenings while working full-time, balancing a career at AT&T with growing her family, a commitment that ultimately led her back to the classroom full-time.
Over the past three decades at Foster, Beard has become one of its most beloved and influential educators. Her courses in International Business Perspectives and Essentials of Marketing and Sales, along with her faculty leadership of two of Foster’s largest student organizations, the Undergraduate Women in Business and the American Marketing Association, have shaped the experiences of thousands of undergraduates.
Her impact extends far beyond the Seattle campus. Beard has coached students in domestic and international case competitions, leading teams to compete in 13 different countries. For 16 years, she has led Foster’s most far-reaching study abroad programs, guiding more than 500 students through immersive learning experiences in Argentina, Puerto Rico, Italy, China, and Ireland.
What sets her apart, she says, is simple but profound: “I have an overriding commitment to work with my current and former students in helping them realize and achieve their goals. I care about my students and want them to succeed.”
Her classroom is intentionally designed to be a place of belonging and shared learning. “I keep students engaged and create a safe space for them to share. I let them know that they can learn as much from each other as they can from me.”
That dedication has guided her through thousands of class sessions, student check-ins, and case competition practices over the years. And it has been recognized through numerous awards, including the UW Distinguished Teaching Award, the UW Distinguished Award for Lifelong Learning, and multiple Foster School awards.
Dean Hodge shared that what alumni and students often share about Beard is the same thing: how much she cares. “In addition to teaching highly relevant classes, Leta believes strongly that students should enrich their education by participating in extracurricular activities,” he says. “Students often tell me that Leta had such an impact on their lives because they knew she cared deeply for their learning and well-being.”
Her approach to teaching is also grounded in the principles of lifelong learning. Beard is currently focused on experiential learning, “both in and outside of the classroom,” and enjoys sharing teaching strategies with colleagues. She shares that staying current with the best ways to use AI in her courses is one of the ongoing challenges of modern teaching, but it’s one she embraces.
Christina T. Fong, associate dean for undergraduate programs, says Beard’s influence on the student experience is felt across Foster. “Leta Beard is a rockstar within the Foster community. Not only does she bring rigor, relevance, and relatability to the Marketing and International Business courses that she teaches, but she delivers an outsized impact on Foster students’ experiences. Leta is a consistent presence in so many students’ lives, as she is the faculty advisor to two of Foster’s largest clubs (Undergraduate Women in Business and American Marketing Association), she has served as a study abroad leader, case competition coach, and generally is there whenever she can support a student. Students love how Leta sees them as whole people who are motivated to learn inside and outside the classroom.”
Outside the classroom, Beard is an enthusiastic traveler (she’s visited 45 countries and counting) and a gardener who started growing heirloom tomatoes from seed during the early days of the pandemic. Above all, she cherishes time with her grandchildren.
Asked how she might shape the business school of the future, Beard advises focusing on one thing: experiential learning. And for companies hiring tomorrow’s leaders, she has simple advice: “Companies need to nurture their new employees and create an environment where employees feel like they matter.”
Read her Poets&Quants feature here.
“How rewarding it is to be a part of so many students’ journeys, and how great it is to hear from them later in life as they take their business education and do amazing things!”—Jarrad Harford
Clarity, Curiosity, and the “Aha” Moment: Jarrad Harford
For Jarrad Harford, Pigott-PACCAR Professor of Finance, the spark for teaching emerged during his graduate studies at the University of Rochester, long before he began his 25-year career at Foster. As an introverted student, he was initially unsure about teaching until he found himself standing at the front of a classroom.
“There was something energizing being up there explaining foundational concepts and starting to see heads nod as the students got it,” he recalls. That moment lit a path that would define his professional life.
Today, Harford is one of the nation’s most respected finance educators and scholars. He recently concluded a 12-year term as Foster’s Finance Department Chair. He also teaches the core undergraduate Business Finance course and has received 17 teaching awards.
As a scholar, he has published extensively in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and payout policy. He also serves as Managing Editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Harford is currently examining “the role of partisan workforces in shaping M&A,” noting a surprising decline in mergers between “blue” and “red” firms in the past decade. But even with a prolific research career, it’s the teaching moments that stand out.
“It has to be the aha moments,” he says. “When I’m able to explain something in a way that clicks for the student, and it all comes together for them. They see the connections among the concepts.”
Harford believes that students appreciate how deeply he cares about their understanding; not just the “how,” but the “why.”
Teaching in the age of constant connectivity brings challenges. “When I went to college, if we wanted to zone out in class, our best option was to do a crossword!” he jokes. Fighting for attention in a digital world requires intentionality and focus; traits his students often cite as hallmarks of his teaching.
Hodge emphasizes the long-term influence Harford has had on Foster graduates: “Jarrad has taught at the Foster School for 25 years, so many of his former students are now in leadership positions in companies around the world,” he shares. “One thing I hear from those students is how valuable his class was to their careers. A perfect example of the lifelong impact a Foster education has on the careers of our graduates.”
Fong says Harford’s influence reaches far across the undergraduate experience: “For many years, Jarrad Harford has been a tentpole in the Foster experience for many undergrads, teaching FIN 350, the finance core, to more than 250 students a year,” she shares. “Jarrad consistently delivers an outstanding classroom experience for his students in a difficult quantitative course. His course evaluations are consistently OVER 5.1 year after year after year. He updates his material to incorporate current developments in finance; and his text, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (with Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo) is used at Foster and at many top schools around the country. That he has done this so consistently and for so long with very little fanfare and recognition, all while serving as department chair, is truly astounding. Jarrad has also served as Core Course Coordinator for Fin 350, and in this role has supported so many other faculty teaching in the core. And, he is a consistent champion and advocate for our students, something that I truly appreciate. Jarrad, I’m so glad that your years of excellence and commitment to teaching are finally being recognized!
Outside academics, Harford is an avid hiker, traveler, and golfer. A lifelong sci-fi fan, he recently finished Season 3 of Foundation and is eagerly awaiting the film adaptation of Project Hail Mary. He also enjoys 80s and 90s music, including Seattle’s own Dave Matthews.
Harford is also profoundly grateful for the mentoring and support he has received, particularly from colleagues and from his wife, “a true partner in every sense of the word.”
When imagining the business school of the future, Harford advocates for agility and deeper learning: “More freedom from the central university to be nimble and experimental” and a strong focus on AI; not to be replaced by it, but to leverage it responsibly.
Read his Poets&Quants feature here.
Celebrating the Heart of Teaching at Foster
Leta Beard and Jarrad Harford’s accomplishments reflect a cornerstone of the Foster School: an enduring commitment to transformative undergraduate teaching. They continue a long tradition of Foster educators who shape futures and open doors for the next generation of leaders. Their work is a powerful reminder that the strength of Foster is built on its people, especially the educators who shape students’ lives every day.
Explore the Poets&Quants Best Undergraduate Business Professors of 2025 list and read interviews with each of the 50 honorees here.