Meet a Colleague: Megan Hess Megan Hess serves as the Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and Accounting.

W&L News Office
January 14, 2026

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I have worked at W&L for 13 years.

Q. What is your favorite course to teach, and why?
That’s an impossible question as I love every course that I teach, but I will say that the most fun class is my spring term course on sustainability accounting. That course combines my love of history and moral philosophy and nature and accounting in a way that is really special. Students also love the experiential learning that happens in that class, like when we go deep into W&L’s energy infrastructure or visit a local business practicing regenerative agriculture.

Q. If you chose a different path, what other career would you have?
I’ve tried many other careers – banking, consulting and accounting, just to name a few – and none of them fit me quite so well as academia. I often tell my advisees struggling with their career choices not to worry too much, because it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, too.

Q. Where did you grow up?
San Antonio, Texas.

Q. What was your favorite subject in school?
My high school geometry teacher had us read Plato, and it made me fall in love with philosophy. I ended up as a politics major at W&L, because I loved the political philosophy courses so much.

Q. What three words describe you best?
Curious, compassionate and diligent.

Q. Name one person from history you would like to spend a day with and why.
Xenophon wrote an amazing book on horse training in 360 BCE that is still popular and relevant today. I would love to spend a day riding horses with him.

Q. Who is the most famous person you have met and where did you meet them?
I got to meet Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, while I was working at A-Bar-A Guest Ranch in Encampment, Wyoming. Mr. Armstrong was there with a group of airline industry executives and boy, can they party!

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
This is a bit of a hot take, because we use them a lot here at W&L, but I really don’t like acronyms. Sure they are cute and memorable, but I think they lead to so much confusion. They also make people who are new to organizations feel like outsiders in a way that is totally unnecessary, in my opinion.

Q. What do you like to do away from work?
I do a lot of volunteer work with local non-profits, including Hoofbeats Therapeutic Riding Center, Rockbridge Conservation and Stuart Hall School.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
Horseback riding in the Scottish Highlands.

Q. What do you pretend to hate but secretly love?
Teasing. It’s a love language in my family.

Q. What is your all-time favorite food or food dish?
My husband makes the best carbonara.

Q. What is your all-time favorite book?
This is an impossible question, as I love to read and so many great books come to mind. There are only three books that I’ve read twice in the last 10 years, so they would each be high on my list. The first is Richard Powers’ “The Overstory,” the second is Peter Heller’s “The Dog Stars” and the third is Barbara Kingsolver’s ”The Poisonwood Bible.”

Q. If you could choose one series to binge-watch, what would it be?
“Breaking Bad.”

Q. What is your all-time favorite movie?
“The Black Stallion.”

Q. What song or artist could you play on repeat?
Eddie Vedder.

Q. Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I have a terrible fear of heights, which is really annoying, because I love to hike.