Wayne Mackie, a finance professor, is set to retire at the end of the fall semester, concluding nearly 43 years of service to the university.
Starting at Saginaw Valley State College in 1977, Mackie has taught thousands of students in his tenure. He said the amount of memories that have shaped his career made it hard for him to pick just one as his favorite.
“They’ve all been fun,” Mackie said.
Mackie grew up in the Chicago area and attended St. Mary’s University in Minnesota. Following his undergraduate studies, Mackie earned his MBA from Georgia State University.
From there, he was called to active duty in the Air Force, where his career in education began. After teaching for a year in the Air Force, Mackie continued his education, earning his doctorate from Michigan State University. He taught at Indiana State and Ferris State before heading to SVSU.
Nolan Twardy, a supply chain management senior, said Mackie’s passionate teaching style has become a staple to business students at SVSU. His energetic lectures often attract the attention of those who pass by in the hallways.
Twardy said he believes the university will be without a key asset after Mackie’s retirement.
“Mackie’s finance experience and education spans longer than my parents have been alive,” he said. “It will be hard to replace that much knowledge.”
Mackie said he is proud of the changes he has seen since he first became a Cardinal.
“When I came here, we had two buildings, 40 to 50 faculty and less than 1,000 students,” Mackie said. “Here we are now with close to 10,000 students, 400 faculty and the College of Business with AACSB accreditation.”
The Scott L. Carmona College of Business is part of the 5 percent of universities worldwide accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Although the university has experienced tremendous amounts of change in his time, one thing has remained constant for Mackie.
For nearly his entire teaching career, he has ended his classes with the phrase “Peace, God Bless,” an ode to his favorite comedian, Red Skelton, who ended his TV show with a similar phrase.
After retiring, Mackie plans to split his time between homes in Frankfort, Michigan and Arizona. He said he has not ruled out serving the SVSU community in some capacity in the future.
Before leaving SVSU, Mackie said he wanted to leave one last piece of advice to his students.
“When you get in the workforce, find a job that you love, because you want to go to work every day and enjoy it,” he said.
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