Sunil Murthy brings a unique blend of technical expertise and global business experience to LMU. As vice president of strategic marketing at Transient Plasma Systems and a former leader in international corporations, he integrates real-world insights into courses on tech trends, sustainability, and strategy. From developing sustainable products to launching global innovations, Sunil’s hands-on approach ensures students gain practical knowledge that bridges theory and industry. He also holds patents and contributed to groundbreaking projects, including fuel-saving automotive technologies and the world’s first all-electric flight training simulators.
How do you incorporate your industry experience into the classroom?
My industry experience covers both my technical and business backgrounds. In the tech trends class I teach, I make it easier for students to understand the basics of technology, while also showcasing the business opportunities that come with it, by leveraging my tech and business background. Employing my experience in sustainable product development, I teach the sustainable products and process design class for the M.S. in Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Innovation program, where I discuss my real-life experience in developing and commercializing such products. Relating to personal experience makes it authentic and, at the same time, enables a nuanced conversation.
My work experience at an international corporation is applied when I teach international business and strategic management courses. I share business anecdotes that highlight cultural differences, the challenges of global product launches, and discuss the business strategy choices I had to make. Then, I tie it back to the classroom material. You can discuss business cases from a book, but supplementing them with situations that you were personally involved in is impactful.
What are you most proud of professionally and why?
This is a difficult one because I’m not sure if being proud is any way a defining part of my personality. I am always thinking about what I could have done better. Some moments that have brought immense satisfaction have been emails from students telling me how much they enjoyed my class. Their willingness to put this in writing well after the semester was over is a sign of sincerity that I value. Other notable occasions include obtaining my first patent, being part of the team that launched an automotive product enabling fuel savings and reducing pollution, and developing the world's first all-electric flight training simulators.
What do you enjoy most about teaching at LMU?
I enjoy the open and collaborative culture at LMU, particularly within the business school. I like the small class sizes and individualized attention we can provide to our students.
What advice do you have for graduate business students?
If you are keen on getting the most out of your time and money at business school, LMU offers the best experience — smaller class sizes, active faculty engagement, school activities and events, and the Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship.
What’s a fun fact you’d like others to know about you?
I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones to have run an international marathon. It started in Buffalo and ended in Toronto. Another fun fact is that I met actor Gillian Anderson, from the X-files, at the Los Angeles airport. Nobody seemed to have recognized her, and she agreed to take a selfie with me — I was thrilled!
To learn more about Sunil Murthy's professional and academic experience, please visit his LinkedIn profile and faculty bio.