Supermodel to strut her stuff as Stanford biz school prof

Stanford University students will soon have a chance to learn about business models from a supermodel. 

Tyra Banks, former host of “America’s Next Top Model,” is slated to co-teach a course at the school’s renowned business school, reports Poets & Quants. The course is titled “Project You: Building & Extending Your Personal Brand,” and will also be led by Stanford lecturer Allison Kluger.

The site, which covers business schools, said the appointment came after Banks participated in a discussion last year as part of a Stanford Women in Business leadership series.  

Building a brand is something Banks has excelled at over her varied career. Along with modeling, that has included hosting her own TV talk show, acting in and producing movies and, not surprisingly, hawking an eponymous line of cosmetics. She’s also no stranger to academia. A few years ago Banks completed an executive education program at Harvard Business School. 

According to Stanford’s description of the class, Banks and Kluger, a former producer for “The View” and executive at the Global Shopping Network, will help students develop and promote a personal brand across different media platforms. 

“Project You will help each student realize: What is a personal brand and how can it be unleashed as a valuable, competitive advantage?” according to the school’s course catalog. “Why do you need a personal brand? How do you differentiate yourself and create a brand identity and strategy? How do you use social and traditional media to enhance your brand effectively as well as measure the metrics of social media responses?”

One nugget of Banks’s branding wisdom? Swear. The ex-model told attendees at another Stanford Women in Business event last month that she deliberately cursed on her talk show to alter her clean-cut image and appeal to a wider audience.