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Dr. Derek Ruth believes there’s a sense of magic that comes with his work at 91�鶹ӳ����ý.

A professor in the university’s Brennan School of Business since 2013, Ruth cherishes the unique opportunity he now has to work with students during both their first and final years at 91�鶹ӳ����ý.

“Once I started being able to teach students during their first year and then again in their senior year, it was just magical to see the growth of students,” Ruth said. “They come in the door, they have all the energy and they’re very smart, but over the years you can just see their knowledge building.”

Ruth, a native of Canada who immigrated to the United States nearly 25 years ago, feels convinced that his life “took a 180” when he arrived in River Forest. That conviction, in large part, comes from the revered sentiment that he gets to play a part in making a difference in students’ lives through his teachings in the classroom.

As a student himself, Ruth remembers how taking a course in corporate finance changed his life, in part by helping him fully grasp the power of investing and compound interest.

Now, he uses those lessons—with his own creative twist, of course—to help students reach some of the same realizations he once had.

Twenty dollars may not go as far as it used to, but Ruth knows there’s a lesson to be had from the currency donning President Andrew Jackson’s portrait—and he goes above and beyond to show his students just how much value can still come from one singular $20 bill. On the first day of his business management courses, Ruth and his students discuss how $20 is a reasonable weekly savings goal as

they start out their careers. Twenty dollars saved over 50 weeks—a total representing an approximation of the average number of weeks students may get paid for at their jobs after graduation—brings them to $1,000.

Ruth then opens an Excel spreadsheet with three columns: one to list age, a second to show contributions made each year and a third to highlight how an investment account balance grows.

The spreadsheet, Ruth says, is a key to demonstrate how numbers grow over time. Students very quickly come to the realization that their balance is growing faster due to the compounding interest rather than their own contributions.

Ruth shares with his students that if they’re able to put away $1,000 annually through the first eight or nine years of their working careers and invest it in the stock market, they’ll amass, through compound interest, hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time they’re retirement age.

He also showcases the detriments of waiting, highlighting how those who wait until later in their careers to start investing often are never able to catch up with those who begin early. The simple message is a microcosm of both the course’s key takeaway and one of the core messages Ruth bequeaths to his students.

“There’s a moral to the story: if you invest early on, there’s a big pay off at the end,” Ruth says. “That’s the message of the entire class. If you don’t do the work on the front end, you’re going to be stressed out and worried about your performance. But if you do the investing early, you’re going to be relaxed.”

Ruth has also provided more than just investing-focused lessons to students. On occasion, as students finish the course, Ruth hands them an envelope with the words “week one” written across it. Inside each envelope, students find a $20 bill for them to keep—and start their investing careers, if they so choose.

Students have even approached Ruth later in their careers to say they started investment accounts with that $20.

“I would love to run into them 20 or 30 years from now and hear what that $20 turned into,” Ruth said.

Over his decade-plus at 91�鶹ӳ����ý, Ruth’s approach in the classroom has continued to evolve. He’s started to further tie in the 91�鶹ӳ����ý mission to his teachings and emphasize values more, he said.

His biggest takeaway from his time at the university is one that he holds dear to this heart.

“The work we do here is important,” Ruth said. “We put people on a trajectory of success but also show them how to be their true self and do things ethically to make the world a better place.”