In retirement, Professor Ron King sees adventure ahead

Professor Ron King, a beloved Olin faculty member, retired on December 31. An accomplished teacher and researcher, King, 72, joined Olin in 1986.

That was 38 years ago, back when another influential Ron — Ronald Reagan — was president.

King, who grew up on his family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin, found his calling in the classroom.

Teaching “is just the best job in the world,” he said in an interview. “We age, but our student population stays young, right? It keeps you young because you’re surrounded by the best people in the world that, you know, really inspire you to stay on.”

But after nearly four decades — and 33 teaching awards —  King decided it was time for his next adventure. No one was going to let him slip away quietly, though, especially not his former students. About 200 people gathered at Olin on a Saturday night in March for a party to celebrate him.

“I am incredibly thankful to have had him as a professor, a mentor, and now a friend,” said John Viviano, EMBA 2017, cofounder and partner at Evidentia Learning. “Ron King will change you just by being Ron King.”

King taught accounting courses in the undergraduate, MBA, and Master of Accounting programs. He held various administrative positions, including senior associate dean of faculty, senior associate dean of programs, and director of the Center for Experiential Learning.

He received the Distinguished Faculty Award at WashU’s Founder’s Day in 2012. From 2003 to 2019, he was the Myron Northrop Professor of Accounting, eventually stepping away from the role to dedicate more time to teaching Olin’s Executive MBA students.

Teaching EMBAs was the “sweet spot” of his career, said his wife, Monica Matheny. “They come with life and business experiences and have so much to offer their classmates and professors. A community forms within each class, and those bonds last long after graduation.”

Said King: “The EMBA community, I am just totally in love with it.”

Patrick Aguilar, MD, completed his EMBA in 2020 and is the managing director of Olin’s Business of Health initiative. Like others, he jumped at the chance to talk about King.

“He transformed the work of accounting into a type of storytelling that used a unique language,” Aguilar said. “His combination of humor and kindness in presenting the information made it exciting to come to class, and his way of highlighting the value of the material made it clear why it was worth the work.” 

King is friendly and talkative, but it’s hard to get him to talk about himself. He’s much more interested in others.

“What are you most proud of?” he asked during our conversation. At another point he said, “Do you mind if I take a photo? Because I take a photo of the highlight of the day.” He didn’t want this article to be about him. “My request to you is to make it about the EMBA community, that ecosystem. Let the story be about the community.”

King is a community builder and urged his EMBA students to show enthusiasm for their classmates.

“There is a high correspondence between a positive culture and the behaviors of the class,” he said. “And the behavior is if a student makes a presentation or does something noteworthy, then the class engages in thunderous applause.”

A gift

Alyssa Huffman, EMBA 2021, needed the encouragement. She entered the program during a low point in her life. “I was going through a divorce, had been hit by a drunk driver going 77 miles per hour, needed brain surgery, and two weeks after informing my employer of my surgery, I was let go despite being a top performer,” she said.

King gave her a precious gift, she said: He believed in her potential.

“Professor King — whether he saw the vulnerability in me or simply saw someone who wasn’t going to accept a brutal beatdown in life — was there. His guidance went far beyond the classroom. It was his deep curiosity about my company that helped me uncover issues and solve them.”

She founded ALLUMIN8, a startup pioneering surgical implants. “It was his belief in me that gave me the confidence to stand in front of investors and deliver my first pitch. But more than any specific skill or lesson, Professor King was there through the failures, helping me to build resilience.” 

King, who listens to heavy metal, isn’t settling into a quiet retirement. He loves a good adventure — with camaraderie along the way. He’s enthusiastic about cycling, backpacking, and mountain climbing. The Grand Canyon is one of his favorite places on Earth.

Recently he founded the nonprofit Medallion Adventure Club to support exploration and lifelong learning. The club has a meetup group with more than 2,000 members, including many of his former students.

Said Huffman, “This man can climb to an altitude of 14,000 feet in four hours like a spider monkey.”

Another former student, Ashton Bergh, EMBA 2022, said King shaped her approach to business and to life.

“His mentorship has been a game-changer for me,” she said.

“If climbing Mount Rainier and Devils Tower with him taught me anything, it’s that he doesn’t just talk about pushing limits, he lives it — even while running circles around the rest of us.”