Stories from Our Community

Stories from Our Community

Milo Jones

About Me

I’m originally from Manhattan, although I moved around quite a lot in my early life—I lived in Wisconsin, went to boarding school in Virginia and then did my bachelor’s in Chicago. I majored in Art History for my undergraduate studies mainly because it interested me, ultimately knowing that I was headed straight for the US Marine Corps. My experience there was demanding but formative, teaching me a lot of lessons that I would carry with me in my career. Since then, I’ve pursued a master’s degree and a PhD, tried my hand at archaeology, taken to Wall Street as a stockbroker, worked as Senior Manager at a Fortune 500 company in London and done some independent consulting in different countries. Having now settled in Warsaw, I haven’t lived in the States since 1996 and I’d typically travel half the year pre-COVID. You could certainly say I’m driven by variety but, most importantly, continuous learning.

A vow to never stop learning

For Milo Jones, the trajectory of his career and teaching has always been directed by embracing curiosity. While this has involved frequently moving between industries, disciplines and countries, Milo has ended up with a wealth of interests that have brought him success in many different fields. Rather than dedicating himself to a single one, he specializes in being a generalist.

His mixed background has provided him with a well-rounded outlook and knowledge base. Although he wasn’t quite able to overcome a fear of heights jumping out of planes in the US Marine Corps, more valuable insights came from learning the importance of good leadership, teamwork and a solid plan B for any scenario. Later in his career, work in financial markets and top professional services company Accenture helped him understand what it takes to remain ahead of the curve in the world of business. In Milo’s view, the key to this is causality—relying not only on what and how things happen, but why they occur in the first place. As he points out, in the digital era, the change is already here.

While he still does some consulting work, over the past years teaching has become Milo’s main focus. Even though he never directly set out to teach, he chalks up his arrival at IE University to pure serendipity, applying for a position after meeting a fellow professor during his PhD. Subsequently realizing that teaching was an undiscovered passion, he has steadily allowed it to replace consulting.

Having now taught at IE University for over 12 years, Milo enjoys drawing on different elements of his varied expertise as a faculty member on a range of programs. He combines his fascination with geopolitics and business in his classes in the Master in Finance, International MBA, and Master in international Relations. Tapping into his PhD studies, which analyzed how the culture and identity of the CIA affected the organization’s strategic abilities, Milo has also been involved with the organization of an optional seminar on Surveillance Detection Training for students of the Master in International Relations. Under the guidance of a former CIA Operations Officer, the seminar gave students the opportunity to design and experience a walkthrough surveillance detection route.

Milo passionately believes that every student has a unique perspective and career trajectory to follow, which he carries through in his teaching. Thanks to his immensely diverse academic background, he is able to present students with a wide variety of ideas that stem from different disciplines and professions. Rather than fixating on a particular path or field, he places emphasis on a mindset of individual integrity and a zest for learning.