Growing Opportunity

_The field of finance involves determining rates of returns, analyzing risk and tracking cash flows, all aimed at making investment decisions to achieve firm growth and maximize profits.

Composting, on the other hand, involves earthy endeavors, working with nature and understanding the potential of combining produce scraps with dead or dry materials like leaves or straw. It’s about making improvements to the soil and anything growing in it.

Bauer College Finance Associate Professor Zack Liu has acquired expertise in both, and the unusual combination is yielding personal and professional dividends for the faculty member and his students.

Liu’s gardening interest grew out of the realization that he and his wife wanted to eat a healthier diet. Mandell Park, a Museum District city park that offers a community garden and a place to compost also played a significant role.

“At first, my wife and I started going to Mandell Park because it was a nice park just down the street,” said Liu, who joined the Bauer faculty in 2017 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and now teaches the Advanced Corporate Finance and Valuations course.

“We try to maintain a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, and when we’re able to cook at home, we often have lots of vegetable scraps. When we learned about the benefits of compositing, it seemed like a win-win solution,” he said. “It reduces trash, decreases greenhouse gases and ultimately leads to a nutrient rich soil for gardeners to use.”

The experience now serves as a teaching tool for discussing practical financial skills in his finance classrooms. Conversely, Liu has opportunities to educate peers and community members about city management, local tax programs and how the systems impact day-to-day life.

 “As the (organization’s) treasurer, my focus is to make sure we are doing the most we can with our funds. This very much follows the intuition from my classes where we should strive to make positive NPV (net present value) decisions,” he said.

Perhaps just as importantly, gardening is outdoors and in stark contrast to his usual 9-to-5 office-bound activities: “Most of my days are spent indoors in front of a screen preparing lecture slides and writing research papers,” he said.

Liu’s favorite plants to grow include spicy peppers, kale, beets and hibiscus. While tending to the garden, Liu has noticed that other life lessons that are instructive for his students and himself.

 “One of the joys of gardening is to watch your hard work turn into edible fruits and vegetables or nice-looking flowers,” Liu said. “It reminds me of the persistence it requires to be successful. Nothing happens overnight.”

Liu’s classroom focus, of course, is finance, not horticulture, but he does encourage students to apply their finance skills in non-corporate environments. He also urges students to take a break from school and work and find ways to become part of the broader community.

“You can broaden your horizons by meeting and interacting with people from different backgrounds,” Liu said. “Everyone has interesting stories and lessons to share. Also, volunteering helps you feel involved with the community. I find it inspiring to work with other people who also want to make a positive impact.”