Martha Roop Ryder (BS '82) - Krannert's 50th Anniversary Celebration

One of my fondest memories of Krannert was taking the Executive Forum my senior year. We weren't supposed to be late, but I had to come from a class at Mackey arena and always breezed in a few minutes late. But, the Dean saw my pattern and never chastised me! I still remember one of the questions on our final or mid-term exam, "What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average?"It was a multiple choice question, and the correct answer was 700-1000 in the fall of 1981. Most of the country was in recession and I remind myself of those times when people panic today about a 100 point drop in the Dow!

Congratulations on 50 years!
Martha Roop Ryder

Reynaldo Pagani ('95) - Krannert's 50th Anniversary Celebration

I remember like it was today, my first class at Purdue was Mgmt. 200 with Prof. Jack Hatcher. The class was an early lecture at the Class of 1950 Hall. There were probably more people in that class than in my entire High School in Puerto Rico.

In the second week of classes, Jack finished the lecture with the typical "are there any questions". From one of the last seats in the hall I raised my hand, and sure enough got to ask a question in front of 300 plus students. Jack answered. This happened a few more times in the following weeks. After one of those sessions, Jack called me as I was leaving the room and said, "son, are you available after class?" I was. "well I have office hours at that time, why don't you save your questions for that time, I'll be glad to help you"... "see, when I ask are there any questions, it is the time people start to get their coats on, and leave to the next class, in a room this large, there aren't usually any questions from the audience".

He was very helpful in that semester, not only in answering my questions about Accounting (I ended up with a B that semester), but also about the college life in the United States.

I guess I was somewhat memorable for Jack as well. Four and a half years later, on my graduation, he said hello to my dad and asked him "how was your trip from Puerto Rico"? He told my dad some kind words about me and really made my dad feel very proud about his son, who would ask a question in front of 300 plus people that were ready to leave.

Dan Quartell ('07) - Krannert's 50th Anniversary Celebration

One of my favorite memories is when we presented Hank with a fanny pack as a thank you for his product to market presentation. I was very disappointed when he did not bring to China as a travel accessory.

Another memory was when Chris Barr, Greg Wiles, Brad Henderson, Harish Patel and myself almost had guns drawn on us by the Chinese Military while site seeing in Beijing. Picked the wrong hotel to ask questions at...

Another funny moment was when someone finally asked Dr. Lynch what all of his latin phrases meant in english on the second to last day of lecture.

Nicolas Kfuri (MBA '01) - Back in the Rotunda: Always a Challenge

Dear all,

When Claudia suggested me writing some lines about my feelings going back to GISMA, not just as alum but also as professor, she engaged me, certainly without any intention, in a truly difficult task.

Although during the last couple of years I have had the chance to travel quite a lot, teaching at different universities in Europe and The Americas, coming to GISMA as professor will definitely represent something very special, a milestone in my life. Please note that I wrote “just” life, not “professional life”. And there is a quite simple and powerful reason for that: I am convinced that GISMA changed our lives, by giving us the chance to meet wonderful people from allover the world, to learn from a diverse pool of cultures, backgrounds and personalities…and, last but not least, to further develop our analytical thinking capabilities and knowledge. This time, there is no reason to think it will be any different.

One of the aspects I enjoy the most when teaching abroad is the opportunity to meet and connect with individuals of other latitudes. This summertime, in Hanover, will not be the exception. But it will be much more than that, because there will be tons of feelings coming to my mind on every hidden corner of the Feodor-Lynen Strasse building. On one hand, the memories of one of the most exiting years of my life. On the other, the responsibility that poses on any professor a student body with deep appetite for learning.

During the last years I have had the opportunity to work pretty intensively in a wide array of activities, ranging from responsibilities in MNC’s either, internally or as an external consultant and trainer, to family-owned and small and medium enterprises, teaching at executive, MBA and PhD programs, and even some applied research projects. These are some of the experiences I’ll intend to bring to class when at GISMA, as I usually do it in other latitudes.

I deeply hope current students enjoy the course, and take back to their positions in the industry some of the useful tools, skills, and ideas I have found helpful when working in the consulting as well as in the executive education fields. If that happens, I will feel I have done a good job, supporting them opening their way in the always competitive business world.

No doubt, absolutely new challenge, back in the old Rotunda.
Yours,
Nicolás

Robert L. Bartlett (BSIM '61) - 1961 Recollections

I entered Purdue in September, 1956, as a pre-engineering student. I believe that was also with the first class in the Veterinarian Medicine School. After colliding with calculus my sophomore year, I transferred to the brand new Industrial Management School. We were told we would be the first undergraduates in that school. Correct me if I am in error about that fact. As most of the the IM students at that time had transferred from engineering schools, we were quickly referred to as the "Ex-Engineer School".

I lost a year's work and had to take some freshman courses my junior year. One morning, in Development Reading (Speedy Reading), the twenty-two year-old good looking blond female instructor was late and found a friend of mine talking to me and waving his hands in the air. She said, "Stop that nonsense and get to work". After class, I told the instructor what my friend was doing. He was telling me about the communist MIG fighter he had shot down in Korea.

Many in my class started with the class of '60 but won't graduate until '61. That did not stop us from wearing our senior cords, but they were marked "Class of '60 1/2". In September of 1960, when the seniors of the class of 1961 paraded into Ross-Ade Stadium, we ran in front of them with a sign saying "Class of 60 1/2". Of course, we never heard of "Krannert" as that didn't come until several years later.

I finally graduated in August '61 with a major in Industrial Management and a minor in Industrial Engineering. I worked in industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering from 1961 to 2000.

Don Popeck (MSIM '62) - Krannert Tidbits

Technically speaking, The Krannert School should not celebrate its 50th until year 2012. It was in my year (1962) that Herman C. came through with his X million $'s to put his name on the school. I remember it well as, one afternoon our whole class was hauled off to a reception for Herman C. to fete the occasion. Prior to that we were simply in the Purdue Industrial Management Master's Program.

Which leads to a correction that I have already voiced to the school. We graduated with a degree in Industrial Management. Later it was changed to MSIA (Administration).

Lastly, I will lay claim to being Krannert's first match-maker. During our final (summer) semester, my sister came to visit with my wife and I. Short story - a year later she married one of my Krannert classmates, Dave Leverette.

Kent Williams (MSIA '59) - Krannert's 50th Anniversary Celebration

I was a member of Krannert's third master's program class, graduating in 1959. As I recall, we had about 40-50 students in the class and all of our classes were held in the old Stanley Coulter Annex, in a room which had been specially refurbished for us. To complete all of our assignments, we had a work week which amounted to about 70 hours.

One day in Prof. John Day's class, he had each student write on a piece of paper the amount of gross income we would have to earn in order to be satisfied and feel that our career income objectives had been achieved. He then averaged all of the responses and came out, I believe, with about $45,000. He then made the following comment: "In my judgment, half of you will make it".

Well, Prof. Day, in my judgment, more than half of us made it-even allowing for inflation!

Seema Shirodkar (MSIA '65) - Krannert's 50th Anniversary Celebration

Before I come to the specifics relating to Krannert, let me take the opportunity to pay my compliments to the environment and close relationship between faculty, staff, the foreign students’ office, and other departments as well.

With a not so large foreign students’ community, we students from India, and especially ladies with saree-clad attire with a large red dot on the forehead, always stood out while we crossed the busy campus, especially during crossover of classes. A marvelous scheme started at the time was “foster parents” for foreign students. It not only made the students at home during the entire tenure but many of the students develop lasting relationship with them.

The Krannert School at that time was functioning out of storied Stanley Coulter Annex. The facilities there in with were just basic—nothing less, nothing more. There was no toilet for ladies on the upper floors, maybe because at the time I was the only graduate student, along with Sita Amba-Rao from India, in the entire building. And we had to make up and down trips every now and then to use secretaries’ toilet on the ground floor. It took almost a year before a well-equipped ladies’ toilet was installed on one of the upper floors.

However let me mention with pride that what we lacked in sophisticated amenities was richly compensated by the helpful nature of one and all with personal interest in ensuring that we pursue of our goals without any obstacles. Special mention would have to be made of my major and co-major professors, Dr. Paul Johnson and Dr. Barbara Newell, and the foreign students’ advisor Mr. Tichenor, who many times confessed that he was bending the rules, not breaking them, to see that I overcame financial and other problems. Knowing that we were heading back to India after finishing our degree requirements, Dr. Oliver Dunn, head of libraries, intentionally called me to work on the library being set up in IIT Kanpur, India, with Purdue assistance.

As mentioned earlier, during the period I was the only girl in my MSIA class. The department, as a routine, used to invite various speakers from industry, academia, and labor unions to address the students. What I found interesting was that Paul never used to accompany me when the speaker was from industry or academia. However, when it came to a union leader, he not only led me to the hall but also took a seat next to me. Initially I presumed that he felt that I may not be able to catch their accent and would miss out on much of the speech. However, this was not the case. The union leaders were quite aggressive in handling the topics, lashing out on management with abundant sprinkling of four-letter words. Every time such a word was spoken, Paul would apologize to me on their behalf, saying that they are not used to having a lady in the class. Partly this may have been true. Who would notice a 5’4”, 78-pound girl in a group of hefty men?

The worst was yet to come. When this particular leader from the AFL-CIO came as a speaker, Paul had to apologize so often that finally he gave up and said that he would talk to me after the lecture. Later on I found out from Paul that the speaker had come to Purdue via Gary, Indiana—the home of US Steel and other steel mills—where he had hectic discussions with management. President Kennedy was at that time putting a lot of pressure on the unions to improve productivity, or else. Maybe that was the real reason for his extra-aggressive posture and language on that day.

After returning to India for good, we had once again an opportunity to visit the Purdue campus in 1987, when our daughter was a graduate student in Pharmacy. This was the first time I entered the new Krannert Building. As soon I entered the building, do you know where I headed for? You guessed it right. The toilets on each floor.

Seema Shirodkar,
MSIA ’65

Todd A. Milano (BSIM '74) - Greetings Krannert and Happy 50th Anniversary

The 32 years since graduation have been good to me and my growing family. My son, now in high school, is looking at colleges. Together we traveled 1375 miles over the recent memorial holiday weekend. Of course we had to visit the great Purdue University.

Just being on campus after all those years brought back a flood of memories. One of my favorites is when Professor E. E. Comiskey called me by name when we chanced upon each other out on campus. Now that may sound like a little thing but he made me feel so special that I remember it to this very day.

Here's to the next 50 years.

Keep smiling,

Todd A. Milano, BSIM December 1974
President, Central Pennsylvania College