Employers want to know that WCU students matriculate ready to contribute to the organization, which is possible when the University exposes the learner to current and exciting technological solutions while on campus.

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Drop in on Marc Duey’s Principles of Marketing class, and the first thing you’ll see are the coffee and donuts he provides every Tuesday at 8 a.m. The free food isn’t the only draw for the 200 students taking the course. They also come for his lively teaching style and content that emphasizes engagement.

“I’ve had students tell me it’s the best class they’ve ever taken,” he says. “I teach in a very different way, where I use real-life examples for any of the principles I’m sharing with students. I make sure each class proceeds in a fashion that entertains, engages with student involvement, captures attention, and is tactile.”

Class opens with a music video chosen to illustrate marketing concepts. In one, singer Michael Bublé crooning “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” led to a discussion of finding, identifying, and keeping customers. A second gambit is a daily challenge offering students an automatic “A” grade if they can suggest a story from current events that Duey is unable to link to a marketing concept. So far no one has stumped him.

One of the hands-on components of the class involves mastering the Strategic Marketing Steps (SMS) template. The one-page document guides them through an analysis to facilitate a market plan, including using the 5 Cs of marketing: company, customers, competitors, collaborators, and context. Numerous students have told Duey that being able to reference this content helped them succeed in important job interviews.

The class examples that Duey leverages often come from his own experience. He’s been an adjunct professor at West Chester for 14 years, first teaching in the pharmaceutical product development program, and later leading more than 50 classes across a half dozen courses in business, biomedical engineering, and the MBA program. Teaching is his passion, leading him to earn a doctorate after his first career as a successful entrepreneur who founded 27 companies. He also is the benefactor whose name graces the Duey Biomedical Engineering Center and the Duey Immersive Learning Center. He worked with President Chris Fiorentino to develop the centers, which emphasize hands-on learning and technology.

“Technology is central to the modern delivery of business and healthcare solutions. Employers want to know that WCU students matriculate ready to contribute to the organization, which is possible when the University exposes the learner to current and exciting technological solutions while on campus,” he says.

In addition to emphasizing practical skills, Duey shares life lessons in class. “I tell them you need to do certain things to be successful. Number one, you need to be capable. Number two, you have to be motivated. And number three, you have to be disciplined. And that’s where most of us fail, on the discipline side.”

A desire to test his self-discipline was part of what drove him to climb Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro – not once, but twice. He made a preliminary climb part way up the peak in 2018 and made an eight-day trek to the summit in January 2024.

“Kilimanjaro has to do with part of the philosophy of my teaching, which is that it’s important to pick your challenges with the thought of the benefit they will have for you, irrespective of the probability of success.” In a culture that stresses using shortcuts, from AI to computer programs, Duey says, “We don’t teach in schools the importance of doing it the hard way.”