R.W. Baird & Co. vice chairman, John Taft, reflects on his visit to WFU School of Business in a blog post “Is Finance a Profession?”



May 9, 2019

BB&T Center guest speaker John Taft posed the question “Is Finance a Profession?” on his blog Finance for the Greater Good as he reflected on his recent visit to Wake Forest University’s School of Business.

In his post, Taft considers his own thoughts and experiences after discovering the great work on the profession of business happening at the School of Business:

“For example, “Is Business a Profession?” is the name of an undergraduate course taught by Professor Matthew Phillips. It’s also the subject of a new book – Honorable Business – by Professor Jim Otteson. And it’s the focus of a white paper by Professor Sean Hannah titled “Towards a Noble Profession of Business” (which is one of the most cogent explorations of the subject I’ve ever read).”

Formerly the CEO of RBC Wealth Management, John Taft currently serves Baird as Vice Chairman. Taft is a recognized industry thought leader and has authored two books, Stewardship: Lessons Learned from the Lost Culture of Wall Street and A Force for Good: How Enlightened Finance Can Restore Faith in Capitalism.