Michael Leibelin
Professor of Management and Human Resources
I teach at Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business and serve as the academic director of the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) Program. It’s a four-year program that blends the disciplines of business and engineering. On the business side, our goal is to give undergraduates something close to an integrated MBA experience—early exposure to the tools and thinking that shape leaders.
What has your research or career taught you?
I’ve long believed in the value of rigorous business education. Maybe that conviction comes from my early training in engineering, where problems were neat, defined, and solvable with math. Business problems, I discovered, are different. They’re messy. The boundaries are unclear, the choices ambiguous, and human agency—our decisions, our values—complicates everything.
The challenge became this: How do you frame business problems so they can be addressed ethically and effectively? That search for solutions—and the hope that those solutions might improve the human condition—has been deeply rewarding.
I want our students to see the power of classic business tools and to use them not just for profit, but for insight and integrity. In my last class, I share a few slides that show how these tools fit together and talk about the people who influenced me—those who led with humility, rigor, and grace, and who rose above the politics of the day. My hope is that students leave reflecting on how they can use their energy and capabilities honorably, to help society.
Share a highlight of your community engagement experience.
We just celebrated the tenth anniversary of the IBE program—a wonderful milestone. The vision has always been to create a community where alumni return to hire current students and share their journeys. At the event, more than 100 students and alumni came together, including 30 alumni who traveled from Chicago, Seattle, New York, and beyond. They spoke about how IBE shaped their early careers. It was a night full of pride and possibility.
What is your favorite Ohio State memory?
One thing I’m proud of: how many IBE students have been named to Ohio State’s homecoming court. At one point, I estimated they were selected at a rate more than 100 times that of the general student body. Those honors capture what I think IBE is about—leadership, achievement, and friendships that endure.