“Sam was one of the first professors I had at WashU, and he set expectations high for other professors. His passion for teaching students was infectious and could be seen each day I walked into the classroom. Sam has a unique ability to break down complex business concepts into easily digestible material that made me feel like I was truly grasping the concepts. One of the biggest takeaways that I realized very quickly with Sam was his extensive knowledge of business topics and his ability to seamlessly showcase his knowledge about topics ranging from finance to human resources for instance. Sam provided many meaningful anecdotes ranging from his own experiences to current industry trends that helped bridge the gap between academia and the business world. In the rapidly evolving business landscape, Sam’s up-to-date awareness of industry dynamics was invaluable to me. I am very fortunate to have had Sam as a professor and his teaching style and genuine commitment to myself and other students shined and made him a standout professor and a cornerstone of my MBA journey.” John Badgett, MBA 2024
Get to know Sam!
I am an import from Korea – born in Seoul but grew up mostly in New Jersey (which gets an undeserved bad rap). Grew up learning piano and racing bikes. Attended college in Iowa (Grinnell). Once tried to monetize my piano skills by playing bars with a jazz trio/quartet, but realized skill and talent are different things. By then I had wrecked my racing bike rather badly and our quartet was getting paid only in beer & stray tips, so learned how to pole-vault for our track team instead. Fortunately, my school was only division 3 so got to compete despite my low max-height attainment (too embarrassed to tell you the number).
I am an Olin alum. My first teaching post was at HBS. Headed a startup for a while, worked a little in consulting, and then at American Express before boomeranging back to Olin in 2003. Formerly on the board of the St. Louis Ballet Company (vice chairman), which was an eye-opener as to how the arts actually work day-to-day.
Riding only recreationally these days. Our son (26) has left home for a job involving metals so my wife and I now own dogs – we walk them a lot, which is a good form of alternative exercise. On the side, I make and drink a lot of coffee.
“I had Sam Chun for both General Management as well as Decisions: Data and Values. Both courses were fundamental in my understanding of how to handle case studies, as well as general management situations. Prior to the MBA, I thought of myself as competent in both these areas. After taking his class, I found that it wasn’t that I was not competent, but I didn’t have a repeatable framework through which to view each new situation. This has helped me tremendously in my summer internship at a venture capital firm as I have needed to comb through multiple different business models each week. Without these frameworks built with the help of Sam, this would have been much more difficult.” Buddy Foster, MBA 2024