We’re proud to announce that Hult Professor Matt Johnson has recently been named among the 50 best undergraduate business school professors by Poets&Quants. 

For anyone who knows Matt or has been lucky enough to sit in his classroom, it’s no mystery why he deserves such an outstanding accolade. On campus, he’s known for his passion and expertise, as well as his commitment to supporting students, both in class and professionally after graduation.  

Having earned his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Princeton, Matt specializes in the application of psychology and neuroscience to the business world, specifically in the areas of brand storytelling, experiential marketing, and consumer decision-making. He is the author of the top-selling consumer psychology book, Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains (BenBella, 2020), and most recently, Branding That Means Business (Economist Books,2022).  

Along with his recognition from Poets&Quants, earlier this year Matt was inducted into the Thinkers50 Radar as one of 30 business thinkers with ideas most likely to shape the future. He’s understandably in-demand as a thought leader, regularly contributing his expert opinion to major news outlets including Psychology Today, Forbes, and the BBC. As the founder of NeuroScienceOf, he consults for a range of organizations, including as expert-in-residence for Nike.   

Since 2015, Matt has taught courses in neuroscience, branding, and psychology to our undergraduates. Read our Q&A with him below to get to know him a bit better and see why he’s rated so highly by our students and as an industry expert. 

In my view, instilling curiosity and wonder is the most important impact a professor can have.   

Q: What do you think makes you stand out as a professor?  

A: I’m very curious, and as much as I may already know, I’m always hungry to learn more. It’s my hope that this rubs off on my students.  

In my view, instilling curiosity and wonder is the most important impact a professor can have.  

What do you enjoy about teaching business?  

Two things stand out to me. Firstly, it’s the students’ natural desire to apply the concepts they learn in their own lives and in their professional pursuits. These aren’t merely facts to be remembered, but ideas to put into practice.  

Secondly, the breadth and reach of the subject matter. As a business professor, one of my favorite tasks is helping students draw connections between traditional business concepts, like marketing, and seemingly distinct fields, like psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.  

The business school of the future should have more opportunities for business students to learn and apply insights from non-business disciplines.  

What is the most challenging thing about teaching business?  

Rising above the traditional goals of maximizing profitability, and encouraging students to see the private sector as having an important role to play in cultivating social good. 

Tell us a bit about your current research 

My current research focuses on how neuroscience can be applied to improve experiential marketing, by better understanding the subjective worlds of individual consumers.  

Recent work from myself and my co-authors suggests that the design of these experiences can leverage a consumer neuroscience perspective by focusing on two elements in particular: the psychological pain of the payment, and the anticipated pleasure of the product.  

In one word, describe your favorite type of student 

Curious.  

How do you think your students would describe your grading? 

Strict, but fair. 

The business school of the future should have more opportunities for business students to learn and apply insights from non-business disciplines.

Want to get a taste of learning with Matt?

Watch his TEDx Talk on empathy, which draws on his research in neuroscience:

Interested in some more insight from Matt? Read his recent blog on branding here.