Originally from Germany, Benjamin Osswald fell in love with South Korea during a study abroad program. That’s where he met his wife, discovered his love of Asian cuisine, and landed a job at Samsung, where he provided accounting valuations for one of the world’s leading tech firms. The latter is impressive, especially when you consider how little he knew of the language at the time. “Their meetings were almost all in Korean, so you pick it up pretty quickly,” explained Osswald, the new instructor of accounting at Gies. “Otherwise, you’re lost.”

That’s a sensation common to many students first encountering the complex world of taxes. But Osswald hopes to change that by sharing his passion for the subject, which developed during his time at Samsung. “There was a lot of valuation of new technologies, and there was always the question of where to invest and what is the best deal that we can get in terms of taxes,” he said. “I learned how tax policies impact investment decisions, especially when it comes to recruiting skilled labor, which is very, very important.”