John D. Ward

Lecturer in Management

John D. Ward spent 32 years in industry, working his way up to the position of Global Director at Whirlpool Corporation. Now, as a full-time lecturer for Management majors within the College of Business, Ward takes pride in preparing his students for the kind of high-stakes business challenges he knows they’ll face after graduation.

“One of my primary objectives is to get students out of the classroom and into the real world,” Ward said. “It helps the student tremendously from an educational perspective to be out in the world receiving feedback from corporate executives. It also helps them obtain network connections — and even job offers — at large corporations.”

Since joining the College of Business faculty in 2010, Ward has led Valpo students to victory in a variety of business competitions. The team he led won the grand prize at the 2010 SAP national marketing competition — the first year Valpo had sent a delegation to compete. Ward also advises the Valpo chapter of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, which has recently garnered a number of individual and team awards — including the national championship.

“I see my role as preparing students for these competitions and for their first jobs,” Ward says. “I focus a lot of my time and energy on working with students in these areas.”