Love Precedes Content

PROVO, Utah – Jun 21, 2018 – Scott Webb believes the best way to teach in a college classroom is to fill the atmosphere with love and care. Because of his desire to make connections, Webb finds himself creating meaningful relationships inside and outside of the classroom as he interacts with BYU Marriott students.

“Many people have lost the ability to connect with each other on a personal and deep level,” Webb says. “That’s unfortunate, and I want to try and make a change.”

In May, Webb had the opportunity to accompany a group of seventeen MBA Savage Scholars—a global supply chain consulting program—on a trip to South Africa. They spent time traveling around the country and building relationships with each other. While doing so, they visited Nelson Mandela’s house, traveled under the mists of Victoria Falls in Zambia, and explored the wild on an African safari.

“Going to Africa was the trip of a lifetime,” Webb says. “Our Savage Scholar program teaches students how to make connections throughout the world and also how to make connections within the program.”

Though their adventures were exciting, the main reason for traveling to Africa was to complete a consulting study for Massmart, a South African firm that is primarily owned by Walmart. The Savage Scholar program seeks to award talented supply chain students with educational opportunities around the world. Because of his background in supply chain and specialization in logistics management, Webb was a perfect fit to mentor and accompany the students on the trip.

Webb and the students worked on three Massmart projects and developed solutions that could be implemented. Through research done prior to the trip and following a four-day consulting study, Webb and the students presented recommendations for Massmart.
 
“The final briefing of the projects was unreal,” Webb says. “The director of supply chain for Massmart talked with us about how professional our students were and how impressive their solutions were. About two weeks after we left, we received word that they implemented most of our recommendations.”

In addition to deepening connections with students on academic trips, Webb makes it his goal to create personal connections with his students in the classroom.

“The knowledge that you’re sharing is important, but you can’t teach anything unless you love the people you are teaching,” he says. “Love precedes content.”

Though Webb originally entered the career field as a sex offender therapist at an Oregon state prison, he found his true calling as a professor at BYU Marriott. His choice to join the United States Air Force gave him the opportunity to receive a master’s degree and a PhD, jump-starting his teaching career.

“I knew I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the youth of the LDS Church,” Webb says. “What better place to do that than at BYU.”

In an effort to serve his students to the best of his abilities, Webb often finds himself praying about their needs, and his students can feel how much they matter to him.

“Scott is an excellent professor who helped me realize what I wanted to do in my career,” says Alex Fuller, a supply chain grad who took one of Webb’s logistics classes. “He not only taught logistics and warehousing with passion, but he also cared about me and other students personally.”