Academic Fusion

When Bentley undergraduates watch TV shows with a keen eye for how a camera angle may signal characters’ status, it’s a safe bet they are card-carrying members of Sitcom Nation.

Some cultural critics slam the mixing of art and economics, insisting that commerce cheapens creativity. For Ben Aslinger, that intersection is where things start to get interesting.

“Everything is economic in the long run,” says the assistant professor in Bentley’s English and Media Studies Department. “Our system of commodity exchange and payment actually creates the conditions for creativity.”

Roy “Chip” Wiggins has never been one to sit still. A penchant for collaboration has propelled the Bentley professor of finance across borders both geographic and intellectual. His latest move follows suit, as he crosses into Academic Affairs as dean of business and the McCallum Graduate School.

It was a dark sky above Illinois that literally opened up a universe for Bentley faculty member George Fishman.

“I was fascinated, and not just in terms of memorizing the names of celestial objects. I really wanted to study astronomy and understand our place in the universe,” he recalls of that night 26 years ago.

For Alexandra Wyman ’09, staying cool and collected is all in a day’s work. In fact, when guests of The Martha Stewart Show recall interacting with the production assistant, Wyman’s composure under pressure gets mentioned time and again.

“The recurring theme is, ‘I was so nervous, and you just calmed me right down,” Wyman says of e-mails she collects from past guests such as Lynda Resnick, the entrepreneur behind POM Wonderful, Fiji Water and Teleflora, among other notable brands. “They’re always impressed by how calm my team and I can be in what seems like this world of chaos.”

Four new undergraduate majors are set to launch in September, each a star in its own right. But connecting them all is a commitment to preparing graduates to shine.

Actuarial Science, Public Policy, Spanish Studies, and Sustainability Science. The topics are compelling on their own – and even more so when coupled with business know-how. Each of Bentley’s new offerings requires a companion major or minor in Business Studies.  

A challenge grant to Bentley from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is equal parts recognition and call to action. The $395,000 award, disbursed as the university raises matching funds, advances efforts to enrich business education with rigorous work in the humanities. 

NEH grant is a rare honor for business school. Valente Center Director Chris Beneke will oversee the NEH grant.

As a kid, Rick Cleary learned early on that a career as a professional athlete wasn’t going to add up. Luckily, he had a pretty good backup plan.

“I’ve always loved both math and sports,” he says. “I wasn’t too good at sports. I was good at math.”

Cleary would eventually land on his high school cross country team – and parlay endless hours with The Sporting News into a life in statistics. With a PhD in the subject from Cornell University, he joined Bentley’s Mathematical Sciences faculty in 2001.

When people think about educating artists, they often focus primarily on the technical artistic skills. But given the current economic climate, simply being able to write, sing, or sculpt isn’t enough. Tomorrow’s most successful students will come from programs and schools that recognize the importance of integrating business training into their arts education.

PJ Neal ’02 had heard the lament time and again from fellow alumni, and it frustrated him. “Alumni support of the Bentley Fund is extremely important,” says Neal, a donor to the fund since 2005. “But there’s more to the alumni experience.”

Neal’s own post-graduation involvement has included representing Bentley at college fairs and sharing his expertise with the university’s Career Services team.