Tony Kmetty brings extensive leadership experience and a deep connection to LMU as a double alumnus to his classroom. Tony enriches his courses by blending theory with real-world insights and guest speakers who share practical perspectives. His teaching philosophy centers on helping students discover their purpose and prepare strategically for long-term career success — encouraging them to think beyond their first job and focus on the trajectory that will define their future. Committed to LMU’s mission of “magis,” Tony inspires students to do more, become better, and transform their communities through business leadership.
How do you incorporate your industry experience into the classroom?
Bringing the "real world into the classroom" and making every course impactful is the goal of any course, whether it is an introductory course or an elective. While theory is important to establishing an understanding of any topic, sharing personal experiences and inviting guest speakers to share their insights brings the theory to life and helps students engage with the course material and to open up to make discussions more meaningful and memorable.
What are you most proud of professionally and why?
Hearing from alumni that they have achieved their career goals that we discussed or that they are still using some of the tools that we presented definitely makes me proud as a faculty member. We are here to help students discover who they are and what they plan to achieve in their careers, and once that happens, we know that we have done our jobs well. There is no other profession that has people come back years later simply to say "thank you." We are very fortunate.
What do you enjoy most about teaching at LMU?
As a double alumnus, being given the opportunity to instill a sense of purpose in each student, one that they can carry on throughout their lives and pass on to others, is what makes teaching at LMU different from other universities where I have taught. I try to provide examples of "magis" occurring in the business world and our communities, which allows students to see that they can always do more and become better, help those around them be more and better, and then transform their communities to become more and better.
What advice do you have for graduate business students?
In order to gain the most from their graduate program, students should consider what industry and job they might pursue after graduation. Once they have that focus, they can utilize every course to explore those possibilities to determine if it is the right path for them. If so, then they should network with people throughout their preferred employers to position themselves to successfully launch their careers after graduation. Taking courses solely for a grade will not provide the learning experience that everyone hopes to achieve. It is up to YOU to get the most out of any graduate program.
What’s a fun fact you’d like others to know about you?
I truly enjoy watching sports, and, having worked in professional sports, I watch in a different way than most people. One "skill" that I have is that throughout any game, I will make a statement about 10 seconds before the announcers will say the exact same thing. My son is both annoyed and impressed almost every time I do it.
Anything else you’d like to share?
As all of my students will tell you, I am a firm believer that everyone should focus on what their 3rd job will be after graduation. It will allow you to work on relevant projects and gain the most from classes, and you will then know with whom you need to network to achieve your goals. You can conduct informational meetings with those people to get firsthand knowledge about what their work is really like, and then you will know exactly what your first job after LMU must be and which courses you should concentrate more on to be best prepared to achieve career success now and in the future.
To learn more about Tony Kmetty's professional and academic experience, please visit his LinkedIn profile and faculty bio.