The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/456562
news from HIGGINS HOUSE Sitting in Professor Arthur Gerstenfeld's offce at Gateway II—surrounded by photographs of his fami- ly, of his native New York City, and of the various destinations worldwide he has visited in almost four decades of work at WPI's Robert A. Foisie School of Business, you are reminded that economic pursuit— and the world of business itself—is at its core a human endeavor. If only everyone undertaking these endeavors were as warm, sincere, and committed to the greater good as Art Gerstenfeld. As anyone who's had the privilege of getting to know him can tell you, the man has a personal touch. He claims a distinguished list of credentials: includ- ing an MBA and PhD from the Sloan School at MIT, his tenure and success at WPI, running what we'd now de- scribe as supply chain management for NASA's Apollo program in the early 1960s, working on international projects overseas, and collecting a host of accolades over the years. However, none of these accomplishments is what he will cherish most when he retires at the end of this current school year. Instead, what he relishes from his 37 years at WPI is advising and mentor- ing students. "That's the best part," he says with his widest smile of the day, which is saying quite a bit because he smiles broadly, easily, and often. "That's the thing I've always enjoyed the most." Indeed, the professor says many of his students—several of them now CEOs and senior executives—have stayed in touch long after they've gradu- ated, both seeking advice and sharing their successes with a professor whose infuence clearly lasts a lifetime. And when he retires at the end of this school year, he will continue advis- ing WPI business students. Gerstenfeld was a business and manufacturing engineering professor at Boston University in 1977 when WPI came looking for someone to build its fedgling business school. "I had tenure and I was very happy at BU, but the chance to build some- thing was just too appealing," he says. A human endeavor School of Business professor refects upon career, cherishes student interactions What students also get from Gerstenfeld is instruction in what experts might call "work-life balance," and which clearly stems from his love of life itself. 56 Winter 2015