Greg Adamian knew the power of a good story. An account rich in detail, wit and humor — delivered with impeccable timing — could instruct and inspire, disarm and unite, move and persuade. Over the course of six decades, his stories did all that and more on behalf of this commuter school turned regional college turned global university.
“Bentley was in his blood, from the time he started teaching in 1955,” says Deborah M. Adamian, Greg’s wife of 37 years and a former vice president at international consulting firm Arthur D. Little Inc. (ADL). “He made sacrifices to make sure that Bentley always got the best.”
Chapter One: In Storms and in Sunshine
Marrying into that kind of passion is not for everyone. And the Adamians’ first test as first couple came within weeks of exchanging vows on January 1, 1978.
“We’re living in Belmont and Greg is absolutely apoplectic about his campus, which he can’t go to see because you can’t get on the roads,” Debbie says of the legendary blizzard that, in early February, dumped 27.1 inches of snow in Boston and restricted travel for a week. When Campus Security arrived at their door, she didn’t hesitate to join Greg for the return trip to Bentley.
Staff ranks were thin, she remembers. “The students had done an amazing job, cooking and running the food service. They had also gotten together and made wonderful snow sculptures, which they asked us to judge. Greg had the chance to look around and see the school was in good shape … nothing bad had happened.”
In fact, so began a campus event — Winter Carnival — that continued for many years.
Chapter Two: Of Heart and Home
It would be 1982 before the Adamians moved to Waltham. A home for the president, while part of the original campus plan, had not been built. Debbie asked why. “Greg said, ‘I could never use student tuition to build a house for the president.’”
On this occasion, like many before and after, the Armenian community rallied around one of its favorite sons. At Greg’s urging, the philanthropy-minded founder of Masco Corporation — Alex Manoogian — donated funds for building the President’s House.
“Greg really believed in Bentley … you can only do a great job fundraising for something you believe in,” says Debbie. “We tried to think carefully about making the house work for all kinds of presidents, all kinds of families, all kinds of needs.”
Living at the heart of the school that had his heart agreed with President Adamian. He walked around campus on a regular basis, striking up conversations with whoever crossed his path.
“Greg appreciated everyone,” says Debbie. “In his mind, everyone at Bentley had an important role.”
Chapter Three: The Retirement that Wasn’t
The length and strength of Greg’s association with the school made for some anxious moments in 1991, when he raised the prospect of retirement.
What if he doesn’t have enough to do? Debbie recalls thinking. She was 41 at the time and still working at ADL. One night she brought home five poster-sized boards and put them up on the dining room wall. “We spent 45 minutes writing down all the things Greg wanted to do. ‘OK,’ I said. ‘Now I’m convinced you can retire.’”
She pauses, adding with a laugh: “I don’t think he did a single thing on that list. He didn’t have any free time.”
The chancellor and president emeritus kept an office on campus (in the Adamian Academic Center, of course) and launched full-bore into ambassadorial duties. Those included leading roles in two fundraising campaigns that raised more then $100 million for the school.
He attended every commencement until 2015 and for many years presented the Gregory H. Adamian Award for Excellence in Teaching to its faculty recipient. But his greatest joy was in the smaller moments: talking with alumni, students, faculty and others who held Bentley dear.
Alumni at these gatherings often started the conversation with one question for their former professor, remembers Debbie. “They’d come over to us and ask, ‘How’s Wimpy?’ And I’m wondering, Who is Wimpy? Well, he turns out to be this fictitious person that Greg used in class to demonstrate points of law.”
It comes as no surprise that the colorful tales would stick. “Greg just had a gift.”
Professor
1955 to 1970
Greg Adamian taught business law at Bentley while maintaining his own busy practice in Harvard Square. “We used to tell students: After we teach you everything about money, we teach you money isn’t everything.”
In Business Law, if you raised your hand, you’d better know the whole answer. Greg had the ability to listen to what you had to say, but if you weren’t on point, he would tear you up one side and down the other … in a constructive way.
He loved teaching, just loved it. We all had the same stories. You’d raise your hand once and from then on you’d wait for him to call on you.
I don’t know if Greg had total recall, but he had close to it. He could bring back a story — whether about a board meeting or a discussion with Harry Bentley — and you’d think it took place the day before. He was a walking encyclopedia of the institution.
~ John T. Collins ’69
Trustee Emeritus,
Former Chairman of the Board and Chairman, The Collins Group
I make a point of telling current students about Greg. Often it’s in discussing dram shop laws. It was his case — Adamian v. Three Sons Inc. — that changed the law in Massachusetts, so bars can be held liable for serving alcohol to customers who are already intoxicated. It’s important for students to know that Adamian is not just a name on a building. He’s a major reason that Bentley is here today.
~ Stephen Lichtenstein
Professor of Law, Taxation and Financial Planning
There were agreements and disagreements that permeated the institution during its fastest growing years of the 1970s and 1980s. We all had strong feelings about the direction and future of Bentley. There were many battles and Greg participated in them all. I guess we all wanted to make Bentley the “Harvard Business School of Waltham.”
~ Alexander Zampieron
Professor Emeritus of Economics
President
1970 to 1991
Greg Adamian accepted the appointment as president “with humility, with zeal, with determination and dedication to achieve for Bentley College as glorious a future as it had a past.”
I had been on the board for 10 years when Greg and [board chairman] Dick Gnospelius ’59 asked me to join the Investment Committee.
There had never been a female member and they were installing me as chair. In 1988 that was a big step, a huge step, to put a woman in charge of one of the finance-related committees. What’s more, I was from New York … west of 495!
Greg understood all aspects of the college administration, and that included the financial picture and management of the funds we were stewarding. He always supported me in directing the discussion — and knowledgeably so.
We had board members with a high appetite for risk and others, very conservative. Greg understood the need to strike a balance and wasn’t swayed by arguments of either side.
~ Janet Hunt
Trustee Emerita and Former Senior Vice President, Irving Trust
Professor Adamian often referenced a perpetual sad-sack character in law examples. I would repeat the stories to my small “crew” at the time …I found [them] so clever/funny. You don’t typically get that with Biz Law. Great guy; pencil-thin mustache.
Andrew B. Hill '72, MSCIS '90
He would always walk around campus and talk to students.
-Lori White McKenna '88
When I was 13 years old, I caddied for Greg at Oakley Country Club. On the 11th tee, he hit the ball badly out of bounds and broke a garage door window. I cracked up laughing and he threw me off the course.
Years later, on my first day at Bentley, I was in the LaCava building and the guy I’m working with says, “Oh, there he is … get working.” I turn and see Greg walking by. He looks at me, takes a couple more steps, then stops and turns around.
“Come here,” he says. “I know you. Do you know who I am?”
“I do now.”
“You work here.”
“Yeah, this is my first day.”
“You work here, at Bentley.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, you’ve got to be a better worker than you were a caddy.”
“Yeah, I think I will be. And by the way you owe me for two caddy cards.”
He cracked up. “I’ll owe you the 12 bucks.”
Our relationship started from there. And I just grew to love the man.
~ Rich McHugh
Retired Manager, Building Services
Chancellor
1991 to 2015
“Bentley’s community spirit is its greatest strength, its guiding force,” he reflected after becoming chancellor and president emeritus. “No one is taken for granted.”
It has always been my dream to attend Bentley just like my dad [Richard A. McDonough Jr. ’81]. When he passed away in 2005 from a brain tumor, I knew I had to follow in his footsteps. Receiving the Adamian Scholarship is what helped make it happen.
My mother is a single parent with two kids in college, which makes money tight. She works so hard to make it possible for me to come here, and having this scholarship took a lot of stress off of her shoulders.
I am truly honored to be the first recipient of the scholarship, and I am forever grateful that I can follow my passion and attend my dream school.
~ Kelly McDonough ’19
Marketing major and first recipient of the Gregory H. and Deborah M. Adamian Scholarship
Bentley University wouldn’t be what it is today without Greg. He was definitely a true gentleman; with his winning smile and big personality he was larger than life! Greg was a close friend of the Margossian family and he will be greatly missed.
It’s difficult to overstate Greg’s place in the history and development of Bentley, and more personally, his place in helping me become an effective, accessible and ultimately successful college president. Greg was a mainstay of this university for 60 years, more than half its history. From the day we met nine years ago, he became my go-to adviser and wise counsel on all Bentley matters.
He was a compassionate leader who had a true vision for Bentley. I had the privilege to call him a friend.
- Mark Palla '86
He was always generous with his time and genuine in his friendship. I think we shared a special kinship as lawyers turned-presidents, and I will always be grateful to him. I have had the chance to speak at alumni events on many occasions, here in New England and in Florida, with Greg and Debbie in the audience. Each and every time, I witnessed the admiration and love in the room for Greg, who more than any single person helped to shape the university we are today.
~ Gloria Cordes Larson
President, Bentley University