Elijah Brewer III, chair of the Department of Finance at the Driehaus College of Business, recently sat down with Ovetta Sampson from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business website to discuss his education and how DePaul business students can achieve success in finance.
“We’ve created an atmosphere at DePaul where students are given the opportunity to succeed, no matter what they want to do within the realm of finance,” Brewer said in the interview. “Our faculty go the extra distance for our students. We light that spark that allows them to see themselves being successful. And we offer them practical skills and ways to be successful.”
Brewer came from modest beginnings but got his first taste of elevated expectations as a young boy in Mississippi. Even though his parents did not have a high school diploma, they encouraged Brewer to be the best he could be. That Mississippi kid went on to earn an MS in Financial Management at MIT. He left in 1977 before completing all the requirements for his PhD, taking a job at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He worked at the Federal Reserve for 27 years before joining the faculty of DePaul’s finance department in 2005. Brewer has served as finance department chair for the last two years.
According to Brewer, DePaul’s finance department and MBA concentrations in finance are focused on helping students realize their potential through practical programs and real-world exposure to the finance industry. Brewer remains committed to offering students the foundation and skills necessary to reach their potential, no matter their circumstances, and believe that the future looks bright for DePaul’s finance department and the students it serves.
“All you need is someone to give you an opportunity and just get out of your way,” Brewer says. “That’s what we do for our students. We offer them real-world tools to help them succeed.”