Meet the Director of the MBA Programs: Dr Justin Pierce

A good teacher can make all the difference to your studies. And, here at Torrens, we’re particularly proud of our fantastic team of lecturers.

We’re confident that you’ll find our faculty inspiring and future-focused. Especially when you discover a bit more about what drives them, why they are passionate about their respective areas of expertise and how their industry experience lends itself to preparing students for a career.

This week in the hot seat, the Director of our MBA Programs, Dr Justin Pierce

5 AWESOME THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JUSTIN:

• Justin loves his teaching: in 2016, he won the prestigious ‘Most Inspirational Teacher’ award with the Graduate School of Business & Law at RMIT University; he served for 12 years on Deakin’s Industry Advisory Board and Chaired Chifley Business School’s Academic Board.
• Justin owns and operates his own company called Amore Scientiam Pty Ltd which translates to ‘For the Love of Knowledge’ in Latin. It’s a consultancy business that provides education, business process and strategy consulting.
• Justin pioneered a large organizational change project at Target Australia which led to a rethinking of how fashion items are conceived built and sold in Australia and allowed him to collaborate with PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey consulting teams.
• Justin rocks it out to Norwegian Black Metal. An acquired taste and not for the faint of heart, the chaotic melodies keep him calm!
• Justin loves spicy food, and habanero chilies are a favorite

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

I live to teach and, as long as senior Torrens people never see this, I would, in truth, do this job for free! It’s something I was born to do. I get so much out of teaching and watching my students learn. It all comes back to my love of learning. I get a massive kick whenever I learn something new and so I naturally want my students to have that same experience. I just delight in it and when I get to teach, I learn more about the subject matter as well as teaching itself. So, to me, it’s more of a motivation than an inspiration.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A TEACHER?

I got into teaching by accident but quickly realized it was what I was born to do. I began teaching computer science at Deakin University when I was doing my Honours year at 21 years old. By 24, I started teaching MBA subjects. I’ve been a professional teacher now for 21 years. Really, every teacher has to love learning because that’s what it’s all about.

“When you arrive here, note all of the support services available to you; this is like somebody extending their hand – all you need to do is take it!”

WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN’T A TEACHER?

Honestly, I’d try to find some way to teach. Even if I won Tattslotto, and was living in a 17-bedroom house debt-free, I’d still want to be doing this. This is the most fantastic job in the whole world!

WHAT DO YOU WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD YOU ON YOUR FIRST DAY AT UNI/COLLEGE? 

Somebody did tell me “you cannot do this”, but it was not on the first day. It was just the motivation I needed to prove that person wrong.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ANY PROSPECTIVE MBA STUDENTS OUT THERE?

By this stage, you have already done a lot of thinking about your MBA. You’re edging your way toward a test of character and you owe it to yourself to give it everything you have got. I hope you have seriously looked at three providers before deciding on Torrens. When you arrive here, note all of the support services available to you; this is like somebody extending their hand – all you need to do is take it.