The Early Years
Being 84, I can’t remember the names of my favorite teachers at night school on Boylston Street, but they were excellent. My first teacher said, and he was right, you’ll learn more, pick up more vocabulary and have more fun than that new television set. His name was “Ray” and was with Bentley’s as the outstanding teacher for years. You know who I mean! [Rae Anderson]
George Bailey ’52
When I arrived at my first class, I was motioned by the instructor, Earle Haskins, to take a seat up front, even though there were many empty seats throughout the room. Mr. Haskins asked me if I had done my homework; I had. He took it and proceeded to teach the class with it. From that day forward I had to be prepared with my homework, as Mr. Haskins had let the word out and other teachers began to ask me for my work before class. I doubt that I would have accomplished what I did without the challenge and support given to me by Mr. Haskins.
Karl Taylor ’57
Favorite class was law with Professor Adamian. The classes used to fly by as he was so interesting to listen to.
Kermit Kimball ’64
“There is only one excuse for missing my class. Death. Yours.” Gregory Adamian to freshman law class.
— Richard Saltzman ’69
I was interviewing for a job for the Burlington Industries Internal Audit Staff. After a vigorous all-day session of interviews and tests, we ended our day with a short one-on-one with Mr. Henry Rauch. He said “Burlington is going to offer you a job; certainly not based on your grades at Bentley — they’re mediocre at best — it was your quick thinking in answering the test question of ‘What state is north of Georgia?’ Your answer of ‘New York’ made for a good laugh in the executive dining room today.”
Mike McCarty ’65
I have no other option for domestic harmony other than to proclaim that Professor Elliott’s first semester, sophomore year Cost Accounting course was my favorite. Not because it was a great course (and indeed it was!), but rather because the girl who took the seat next to me in the front row was one Janice Weiner who had the longest black hair. We were married in June 1969 and have been married for over 47 years.
Bernard Fellner ’68
1970s
My favorite professor was Dr. Greg Adamian, and my favorite class was his Business Law I class in the fall of 1969. It was my first class and my most poignant moment at Bentley. He has been one of the most influential people in my personal and professional life whom I have used as my role model, blueprint and inspiration throughout my career.
Don Wetmore ’70
Harry Zerigian, accounting professor in the ’60s and ’70s. When he was trying to make an illustrative point at the chalkboard, he’d blow into his hand while holding a piece of chalk and say: “PEOPLE!!! YOU’VE GOT TO …”
Ed Dornig ’71
My freshman year Business Law professor would often refer to a specific paragraph or two of law that was contained in our textbook. He would always begin his reference with, “It goes something like this …” and would ALWAYS be a word-for-word match to the law. He was 100% consistent, never missing or substituting even one word. It was brilliant! That professor happened to go by the name of Gregory Adamian.
Rick Brodmerkle ’73
Favorite academic moment: getting the only 4.0 Dr. Kennedy ever gave out in History.
— Paula (Hains) Rolleston ’78
1980s
Dr. Fessenden was lively and spirited and managed to tweak my interest in geology far quicker than I expected. His mnemonics were great and I still can recite Moh’s Scale of Hardness (“The Girls Can Flirt And Other Queer Things Can Do”). He sparked my interest enough that I signed up for the Geology of Cape Cod field course — and then I was hooked!
Heather Brown Colbert ’81, MBA ’87
I have to say my favorite class was Calculus in winter of 1978, since that is where I met my now husband of 31 years!
Laurie (Galer) Riccio ’81
I had Professor Flynn in the early 1980s and she had a policy that if everyone got the same question wrong on an exam then obviously she hadn’t taught the concept well and we won’t be penalized for getting it wrong. My entire class got together and we decided that on the next test we would all select B for every answer. We all ended up with an A — she couldn’t believe we had pulled it off and that we all trusted one another that much.
Melissa Howley ’82
One of the craziest memories of Bentley is being in Professor Agnes Messarian’s Business Policy class and the kid next to me brought in a very large dog who proceeded to sit under his desk quiet as a mouse for the whole 45 minutes. It seemed he was watching this dog for a friend. And to this day I am not sure anyone but he and I had any clue that dog was there.
David Marino ’82
My favorite professor was also my hardest professor, Dick Cross. In Principles of Accounting, Professor Cross actually determined the negative grade point for failing grades! I never saw another professor do this.
— Howard Barnes ’86
One of my favorite classes was Geology with Professor Fessenden. I took Geology as my science series as I figured, how many types of rocks could there be? Quite a few, as it turned out.
Hiel Lindquist ’83
Harry Zerigian was the most influential professor at 1981 to 983 Bentley. I’ll never forget the man or the lessons.
Randy Roberge ’84, P ’15 ’19
Dr. Tony Kimball’s U.S. Government lectures were so entertaining that you would not ever consider blowing off even an early 8:00 a.m. class. I’ve been fortunate to keep in touch with Dr. Kimball since graduating; usually getting his take on pending presidential elections.
Marc Levesque ’86
“Look around the room at your classmates; only half of you will still be sitting here at the end of the semester. This is one of the toughest classes at Bentley. You’ll have to show up and work hard in my accounting class.” — Dick Cross. Sure enough, the giant lecture hall was only half full by the end of the semester and I was so happy to be one of those students! He scared us but we knew his expectations right from the start!
Michele (Mann) Shea ’88
1990s
My favorite professor was Frank Wolpe, founder of the MST Program. His approach to teaching was such a blend of theory, textbook and realworld experiences which led to true learning of the subjects!
Steve Elliott, MST ’92
For alumni like me who attended Bentley in the late ’80s, one of our shared defining experiences was carrying our 18-lb. HP “laptops” all over campus. Memories of that black screen and green type seem like ancient cave drawings today, but, at the time, Bentley was at the forefront of colleges across the nation by providing all students with their own personal computers and integrating their usage into every one of its classes. (Note: How do I know our HPs were 18 lbs.? I still have mine in my garage!)
Melanie (Mowdy) Otero ’91, MBA ’92
Professor Richard Geehr, specifically his World War II History class. There was no one as passionate or excited to share his knowledge and experiences as Professor Geehr. One happy memory was when Professor Geehr brought in his own personal Victrola and played us Enrico Caruso. The look on his face was magic.
Jeff Carlton ’93
Freshman English: the professor reminded us of our high school days and how smart we are. She then started to hand our papers back: all D’s and C’s, grades we had never seen on our papers. She then calmly stated, “Now I am going to teach you how to write.” Today I am constantly sought after by my coworkers and industry peers to write for or review their writing because of this wonderful professor that pushed us to be better.
Neil Abramson ’94
Dr. Paul-Emile's World Literature class was the first time I was introduced to literature by Caribbean people. I felt proud and happy to read books about girls like me.
— Cheryl-Ann Weekes ’95
Bill Gribbons tops the list! I still remember our first assignment in Graphic Design and Production: Take a white square and, using four smaller black squares, illustrate a list of words like order, chaos, etc. He really helped spark my creative side, for which I will always be grateful!!
Erika Vardaro ’94
I remember having to go to the library to get hard copies (!) of some MBA case packages for our assignments. Yup, you had to physically go to the library, wow.
Albert Savadian, MBA ’97
2000s
My all-time favorite professor was Professor Grayson who taught English. I didn’t like her at all at first because she always seemed to challenge me and every question I asked she would always play devil’s advocate, but that in turn pushed me to think outside of the box and later shape the way I thought about academia.
Demetria Johnson ’01
I knew I wanted to be in business, which is why I went to Bentley, but I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do as far as a career. That all changed when I took Professor Mike Tessler’s Retail Marketing class; it just clicked. Today I celebrate ten years in the retail industry, which is a fast-paced, exciting and ever-changing place to be.
Maureen (Fedorchuk) Cuddy ’04
Community Involvement with Professor Rick Frese: After our mandatory volunteering, I was inspired to dedicate close to two years to City Year Boston, a nonprofit organization that focuses on community service and social justice.
Elba Valerio ’05
I’m pretty sure I took every history class that Mr. Putney taught. We would play games based on the readings: Jeopardy!, Family Feud, etc. Now I'm a professional tour guide and history teacher myself; I hope that my students are enjoying my instruction even half as much as I did with Mr. Putney.
Stefanie Vestal ’05
It took me until the third to last class of the semester to realize Professor Schiano’s genius. Each week he would give us way too much reading (sometimes 300-plus pages) and ask for a maximum 400- word memo describing the reading. I finally realized — and can honestly tell you it is the most important lesson I learned in the whole program — how to communicate with executives.
Ryan Hayden, MSIT ’07, MBA ’07
Negotiation: hands down the best class at McCallum. I still use what I learned there on a weekly basis. The class was as practical as it gets. Professor Starner was amazing. His various stories of negotiations that he had done throughout his life provided the perfect color to the practical portion.
Dan Berlin, MBA ’08, MSHFID ’08
2010s
Andy Aylesworth. He has such insane energy and a zest for the industry and for teaching that I often refer to his lessons (including how to watch a commercial).
Mariela Spillari ’10
My favorite classes were Math Logic and Math Graphics with Professor Nathan Carter. On the first day of class, Professor Carter could name every student, based on the student photo directory.
Marla Strykowski ’11
My favorite professor of all time was Dave Carhart! He made me a confident public speaker; even though he taught a math class by assigning us projects that had real-world applications which we needed to present to others.
Jessica Jacovino ’14
My favorite class at Bentley was The Music Industry, with Ben Aslinger. It’s only offered once in a while, and I did all kinds of scheduleshifting to get into the course. It gave me such confidence and a welcome push in the right direction.
Jenna McPhail ’15
Favorite class: anything taught by Jeff Shuman. You’ll learn the most real world, first-person things about business.
— Cole Horgan ’16
Professor Spinace-Casale. I visited her class during a recruiting trip and immediately knew that her style of classroom was what I wanted in college and it was a crucial factor in me picking Bentley.
Frank Elenio ’19
Even though I had to trudge up the Smith stairs for this 0-credit class, Professor Vidic made CDI 101 worth more than any of my other classes. She empowers students by giving them the tools to deliver elevator pitches with assurance, master job interviews and build flawless resumes. Professor Vidic forces students to focus on themselves during this difficult time in our lives when we are so caught up in finding our career paths.
Brooke Jameson ’19
Faculty
I was thrilled to begin teaching Abnormal Psychology at Bentley. It is inherently such a fascinating topic, and almost every student has some personal reason for taking it: an uncle who is bi-polar, a nephew who is autistic, a cousin struggling with alcoholism or addiction, not to mention that some students have a touch of OCD, or anxiety or depression themselves. Of course, if they become managers, it will be important to recognize an employee or co-worker who has a problem. The students seem to like the course, and I couldn’t be happier teaching it.
Barbara Nash, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences
We teach EC 454, College Fed Challenge. Not only is it our favorite class to teach, it is the best thing we do as professors at Bentley. Year in and year out, the Bentley students have excelled, winning the regional competition four times and the national championship once. The effort, teamwork and camaraderie that the teams display is truly special. We are so happy to get to work with such motivated and engaged students.
David Gulley and Aaron Jackson, Professors of Economics