Profiles in Education: Dr. David Weiss

Dr. David Weiss has begun teaching at Georgia Gwinnett College in the fall of ’19, now entering his second semester as GGC’s newest English professor.

Dr. Weiss stated his first semester was great, a lot of learning on his part and really enjoyed it. You could say it’s his first-time teaching, however it is not entirely true, as he taught often in the business world, conducted classes, training people as they rise positions at the job.

“My success of becoming a CFO and retiring early was supported much more by what I learned in English than what I learned in accounting.”

Corporate Beginnings to Philanthropy and Education.

The former Chief Financial Officer of Beazer Homes, a construction company based in Atlanta, Ga, is a jack of all trades. From Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Beazer Homes, Member of board of directors and finance committee for Zoo Atlanta, to working with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, and much more.

“GGC is so different then so many schools, it’s such a wide range of students, from people who English is a second language and are just really trying to get themselves ahead by learning the basics to kids who’s are AP students who have placed out of 1101 and don’t really need my help to be able to write, and all the people who are older, especially the moms coming back to school, who are by far the most driven students you got here.”

In 2018, Dr. Weiss retired and pursued his doctorate in English Literature online at the University of Birmingham in the U.K.

“My success of becoming a CFO and retiring early was supported much more by what I learned in English than what I learned in accounting.”

Dr. Weiss has had an enjoyable first semester, stating, “I wanted to appeal to a wide range of students, works that somehow had to do with writing.”

A Shakespearean at heart, Dr. Weiss has used open discussions in class to explore the student’s different interpretations of the work, “each class is different; each student has their own different character which can change what you have to do as a teacher.”

“The English language skills are critically important no matter what you’re going to do, if you’re an accountant, if you’re an engineer, if you’re a computer programmer, if you’re a nurse, it doesn’t matter. Being able to communicate is important, and you don’t get those skills in accounting or engineering.

So if you can apply to that to what you’re going to do, it gives you a leg up over others who have only studied the technical aspects of whatever it is they’re doing.”