December 10, 2025
Blending Theory and Practice: Dr. Levens’ Leadership in Marketing Education
Dr. Michael Levens is a Marketing professor at Ferris State with years of industry knowledge that is evenly paired with academic experience. Teaching isn’t just a profession for him, it’s a calling that’s been built on decades of experience, curiosity and the desire to make a meaningful impact.
Before stepping into the world of education, Dr. Levens spent over 15 years working at General Motors in marketing and brand management. It was at GM that he discovered his passion for teaching; he was in a marketing management position and was asked to teach marketing and branding to GM employees. He recalled, “I loved that part of my job.”
That spark eventually guided him to pursue teaching full-time, blending his professional expertise with a deep enthusiasm for mentoring future marketers. Levens earned his doctorate at Tulane and worked his way up the career academic career ladder.
Starting as an adjunct, he rose in rank and eventually became the president of Walsh College. Though he loved running the university, he was meant to teach.
Levens chose Ferris State University because he knew this university balanced the teaching of theory and the importance of real-life practice. He knew that coming here meant that he would be surrounded by other professors who share similar industry and theoretical knowledge and experience. He also knew that with his experience in the field, paired with his experience teaching, he would make an impact on the lives of his students.
He loves teaching and wants to have connections and conversations with his students. Dr. Levens’ teaching style is a communicative approach, the more he gets to know his students the more he can help them. “I just want to be useful,” he stated, “I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to career-wise. Now I want to help the people who want to be helped.” When asked to expand on that, he said, “I want to give everyone a chance to go as far as they can and want to go…”
His approach emphasizes the importance of both experience and theory, “To teach marketing, it’s important to have done marketing.”
With the industry background he has, and the knowledge he gained from his schooling, his wife suggested that he write a book, and he did. He is now a published author of Marketing: Defined, Explained, Applied currently on its 4th edition, with a fifth in the works.
When asked about the process of his book, he made it clear that his intention was to gear it towards students and what they wanted to be learning from. He asked his publishers for a student advisory board, where he made changes based on their input. His book is now written in various languages and used at universities across the country and the world. Reflecting on this, he said, “It feels good… I was in Arizona at a Starbucks and saw someone reading my book." He’s always looking at how he can grow himself and how he can help others.
His advice to students would be to take the opportunity to ask professors for career advice, “Many faculty members have held the jobs that students aspire to attain and can provide candid assessments of the opportunities and challenges associated with specific jobs and market sectors.”