While most students were settling in for their second day of spring semester classes and getting ready for professors to drone on about syllabi, one 9 a.m. finance class on Thursday, January 9, 2025, was in a different situation: they had no professor.
The almost 30-person Finance 309 class convened in the Bloomberg Lab in State Farm Hall. After five minutes with no instructor, a student said, “Munenzon’s kinda infamous for being late. It’ll be fine.” Another student joked that maybe he took the day off. Finance 309 is a course about investments, and President Jimmy Carter’s funeral halted the stock market that day.
No explanations for the absence were given. By 9:45 a.m., most students had left.
The following Tuesday, Dean of Finance Bryan McCannon came into the class and explained Professor Mikhail Munenzon was no longer in contact with the school. Still, IWU hoped to hear from him soon and resolve the issue.
Several concerned students (including an Argus staff member) raised follow-up questions for McCannon. Would the 13 quantitative finance majors (a major Munenzon brought to IWU) be forced to switch tracks?
McCannon assured the students IWU had a legal obligation to help them finish their declared majors, and they would find somebody qualified to teach Munenzon’s capstone course, Finance 415.
Sophomore Harper Wood asked what would happen to the students Munenzon was advising. McCannon said they would have a solution in time for fall semester registration and offered to help students with advising until then.
“I was disappointed to hear Professor Munenzon wasn’t coming back this semester,” Wood said. “He was one of the reasons I chose to come to Illinois Wesleyan in the first place.”
Another student asked if Munenzon’s absence was related to an earlier dispute with the school last December.
McCannon initially agreed before backtracking, saying he thought negotiations for that particular dispute went well, and he was upset to see relations weren’t good. After hearing McCannon’s comments alongside students’ concerns, The Argus felt compelled to investigate further.
In a follow-up interview two days later with McCannon in his State Farm Hall office, he appeared uncomfortable. The interview lasted less than four minutes. McCannon said they had found a suitable teacher, accounting professor Paul Shaffer, to step in for FIS309 and had “plans” for the other two classes. He referred The Argus to Human Resources at the first mention of Munenzon’s name.
HR’s Kathleen Hermacinski was out of town, but in the meantime The Argus contacted the Investments/Trading Club. Munenzon was an important advisor for the club, with students concerned it would struggle without him.
“Not seeing Professor Munenzon return is very disheartening,” club president sophomore Sean Hollendoner said over email. “I view Professor Muenenzon as my mentor because he is someone with vast experience in real-world investing and trading. He is one of the reasons I enjoyed school so much. I was always motivated and invested in his classes,” Hollendoner said.
Hollendoner said he thought the dispute originated in Munenzon’s fall semester course Finance 409: Portfolio Management, but he was not in the class himself.
Per IWU’s website, Portfolio Management is a unique, hands-on class where “15 students set out every semester to manage a portfolio of 20-25 stocks. Using Bloomberg Terminals, earnings reports, conference calls and a lot of time, students learn about the strategy, financials and valuation of each company in the portfolio.”
The class presents their semester findings to the Client Board, a group currently made of 10 alumni and friends of IWU, who take their recommendations and invest real money. The website further said, “The decisions each student makes has a lasting impact on the future of the university, as 5.25% of the portfolio is drawn every year to fund student scholarships.” Currently, the fund has grown to over $4 million, one of the largest student-run funds in the country.
The Argus emailed students who would have been present for any dispute regarding Munenzon. Few replied, and none painted a clear picture of what happened.
A senior in Finance did respond but requested his name not be listed: “I don’t have anyone I know who would be comfortable in answering the questions asked,” saying students were nervous the school may retaliate if they spoke out.
He directed Argus staff toward an anonymous Change.org petition, which had nearly 150 signatures at the time. The petition called for IWU to retain Professor Munenzon and to honor his teaching methods in his finance courses.
Many students praised Munenzon for his “unique” teaching style, but was it so problematic to cause intervention from the school? How did his teaching methods relate to the Finance 409 dispute? Only Munenzon could answer that question, and he was quick to respond to an Argus email.
“My focus is on teaching my students how the world actually works, rather than teaching from a textbook and having them memorize useless academic theory,” Munenzon said. “My classes involve heavy student discussion and interaction to allow students to develop proper finance thinking skills.”
Professor Munenzon’s comments aligned with what students previously said. In a now-unlisted promotional video on the Illinois Wesleyan University YouTube channel, students praised Munenzon for his hands-on teaching experience and unique expertise.
“He (Munenzon) has worked at hedge funds, started his own companies, worked at other prestigious universities,” Clay Anderson ‘23 said in the video. “He has about every certification you can possibly imagine. He’s someone you are not going to find everywhere.”
“Professor Munenzon doesn’t always follow strictly what the textbooks suggest because he believes real-world scenarios often don’t match what’s written in academic materials,” said quantitative finance junior Noza Mirzoeva in an email interview. “This difference in philosophy can sometimes cause tension, as universities tend to value standardized approaches, but his teaching is based on what will truly prepare students for their careers,” she said.
Munenzon also spoke to The Argus about his dissatisfaction with admin for not investing in a bigger classroom for him to teach in, as his classes are typically over-enrolled to the point that students he personally approved wouldn’t always get in.
“I have been getting absolutely no support from anyone for anything, even for Women in Finance,” Munenzon said. Women in Finance (WiF) is the second club Munenzon advises for (he is the only professor who advises for two clubs.) “It was like pulling teeth to get a single dollar for any educational initiatives to raise the level of finance education at IWU.”
Considering the WiF club has had members go on to work at reputable finance firms, this lack of support was odd. The Argus reached out to Kayleigh Hall ‘23, who now works at Morningstar, Inc., over LinkedIn for comments.
“I would not be where I am today without the teachings of Professor Munenzon,” Hall said in an email statement. “He started the Women in Finance club, where he gave the small group of female finance students an opportunity to hear from industry professionals about navigating the male-dominated field. IWU is not a target school for finance, but Munenzon is a target professor, and any student who has had the opportunity to learn from him excels in their careers,” she said.
While issues with class resources were a substantial point of contention in his dispute with the school, it was not the only one. Optimistic after hearing from Munenzon, Argus staff finally asked the question that nobody else was brave enough to answer.
What happened in the Portfolio Management presentation?
Munenzon explained that during the presentation, a member of the Client Board, Corey Schieler, was incredibly disrespectful to both him and his students, saying “these are the worst presentations in 27 years of my involvement” and nothing from the semester would be accepted, despite most of the recommendations involving existing positions which were already approved in prior semesters. Munenzon also said Schieler didn’t allow all students to present their findings despite having 15 minutes left in the given time.
Munenzon said Schieler also claimed “the quality of finance education significantly deteriorated” since Munenzon’s arrival. Schieler said this, even though he previously approved two years of presentations given by Munenzon’s classes, but Munenzon had no changes in teaching style or philosophies during that period.
The Change.org petition (which The Argus reached out to the owner of and ensured the validity of its signatures and comments) also said “when Professor Munenzon assumed leadership, the fund’s total year-to-date (YTD) portfolio return was -11.99%, underperforming the S&P 500’s -9.34% return. As of November 30, 2024, under his guidance, the portfolio has achieved a remarkable 25.10% YTD return, with the 28% market’s return.”
The Argus asked McCannon to confirm these statistics, but he said the information was not publicly available.
Munenzon finally outlined specific promises he needed from Illinois Wesleyan to continue working at the university, including “an explicit plan to support my educational initiatives such as clubs,trips and teaching style” and an apology from Schieler to the students of Portfolio Management.
Following these comments from Munenzon, The Argus reached out to the Client Board for comments.
Of the 10 client board members listed for the Portfolio Management class, only three responded.
Jake Ocker suggested The Argus forward all questions to Corey himself. Jennifer Armstrong replied but said she hadn’t served on the Client Board for a few years. David P. Myron forwarded Argus staff’s email to David Marvin, Interim Provost and Dean of Faculty.
“I’m unable to comment on those questions,” Marvin responded. “However, I can reiterate that the class and the Client Board have a fiduciary duty to manage the student portfolio and investment recommendations following the investment policies as established by the University.”
Regarding the investment policies, Marvin followed up with a Google Doc outlining the policies with the key objective of achieving long-term returns that meet or exceed the Endowment’s target of the market. Marvin added that the student fund had been underperforming the market the past few years, but neglected to give specific numbers.
Finally, The Argus reached out to Corey Schieler, the alleged instigator of the Portfolio Management conflict, on LinkedIn, who urged Argus staff to “please work with the office of the IWU president for any comments.”
On behalf of the IWU administration and human resources, Marvin emailed: “Our priority is doing what is best for our students, setting them up for future success, and in the long-term strength of the Finance Department at Illinois Wesleyan. We can confirm that Professor Munenzon remains employed with the University, but we cannot legally comment on further personnel matters.”
Asked if IWU requested Schieler make an apology or step down from the board following his alleged outburst, Marvin said,
“The University and the Client Board has offered, and remains open, to facilitate a constructive dialogue among all involved parties. Corey remains on the Board of Trustees and the Client Board, and is currently contributing to the instruction of the student portfolio class at the request of students,” he said.
The Argus wanted Munenzon’s story to have a more conclusive or optimistic ending, but the trail ended with Marvin. With no more leads to chase, no more board members or students willing or able to speak up, The Argus rests.
Maybe someone will give, and Munenzon will be able to return to Illinois Wesleyan and continue teaching. However, it seems more likely that IWU’s students have lost another passionate finance professor, and that the IWU administration is okay with it.