A Return to Higher Education 1983 to 1993

Learning more about Management and Marketing.

After 25 years of travelling the world as a professional in various aspects of consumer product development, purchasing, quality control and marketing, I decided it was time for a change in my career path. A career path change to management positions outside of my current field required some additional credentials. I therefore began an educational odyssey that lasted another 20 years. So here is that story in itself.

Back to the Classroom

I left my undergraduate education unfinished in 1956 after completing 2 years at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. I earned a few more credits at NYU taking courses in textiles and retailing plus quite a few hours of language training in Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. My goal now was to earn a Masters in Business Administration. However, before that was possible I needed to complete a Bachelors degree. By chance, one Sunday in 1981, I read an article in the Trenton Times about Thomas Edison State College (TESC), a school that had a good reputation for external learning for adults and that institution provided me with a new start in higher education. After an evaluation of my previous undergraduate work, they provided me with a course of study that would lead to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences within 18 months. I began this program with a great deal of enthusiasm taking evening courses at Mercer County Community College, Brooklyn College, and Rutgers University. All these courses in Social Sciences were very valuable in putting my years of cross cultural exposure into perspective. For my final undergraduate thesis topic I choose the Opium Wars between China and the Western Powers (see Opium Wars link). An usual topic but I enjoyed combining my knowledge of Hong Kong and my love of military history. I finished this degree and graduated in 1983.

Moving on to an MBA

As mentioned above my primary goal was to earn a Masters in Business Administration. This degree appeared to be the most sought after for potential new hires at the mid-management level. Since I was traveling overseas for weeks at a time, I needed an MBA program that offered alternating weekend courses. Fortunately I found an accredited program at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) located in midtown Manhattan nearby where I worked. Although I had to fulfill a few prerequisites such as accounting, I managed to test out of these topics based on my real world business experience. This course of study was extremely helpful in rounding out my management knowledge and experience. Some of the courses I enjoyed the most were quantitative measures and strategic management. Somehow the more formal education I achieved the I wanted. After graduating with my MBA in 1986, I was able to land a very interesting position with JP Stevens, a large textile conglomerate but I finally moved out of the apparel business and had much less travel which was mostly domestic in nature. This position put me in charge of a strategic business unit with bottom line responsibility. For the first time in my career, my compensation was more dependent on financial performance and sales growth.

An Introduction to Teaching

During my final semester at NYIT, I was asked by the MBA program chairperson to teach an undergraduate course in Retailing. I presume it was because he was aware of my retail background. At first I was hesitant but I took a deep breath and entered the whole new world of teaching. I was inexperienced as a teacher, however I knew the retail business and the class had a small number of students so each session was filled with a lot of experiential learning with a minimum of theory. From that first introduction I developed a strong attraction to the idea that my experience in international business would be valued in the area of higher education. That began my interest in moving from the world of business into academia. However, I soon learned that there was a vast difference between being a part time adjunct instructor and a tenure tract full time professor.

Another Degree leading to a Totally New Career

The more I taught in the international marketing area the more I wanted a more formal education myself. For this reason I enrolled in a post masters certificate program in marketing at Pace University. Pace has a somewhat unique focus as it started has a business school for men and women focusing on business subjects since 1906 (History of Pace University). After taking a few marketing courses, I learned of a unique Pace doctorate degree program that seemed to fit well into my plans to become a full time professor. After jumping a few hurdles I entered this program (Pace Doctorate Program) and began a program of study that contained two concentrations (majors); international business and marketing leading to a Doctorate in Professional Studies in Management. I continued teaching part time one night a week or on weekends while taking two courses a semester at Pace. My short goal was to finish the course work requirements of this program and pass my comprehensive exams to reach a status referred to as (ABD), "All But Dissertation." I knew that many colleges would hire full time faculty that had reached this point in their education with the understanding that they must complete their doctoral degree before gaining (tenure) as a faculty member.

Finding the Right Teaching Position

As many things in life occur, being in the right place at the right time is critical. Teaching as an adjunct instructor for five years, I had experienced teaching at several different types of institutions including NYIT, a private university, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), part of the  State University of New York (SUNY) system, as well as Georgian Court College (now University), a religious affiliated school. Since I was still working in New York City and pursuing various higher education programs for over ten years, I decided to find a teaching opportunity closer to home in central New Jersey. After a little research I focused on Trenton State College in Ewing, NJ (now The College of New Jersey), only a few miles from my home. With my teaching credentials fairly well established, I wrote a letter to the dean of the school of business offering my services. The timing was right and I began teaching International Marketing as an adjunct instructor. Within a few months I learned that they were looking for a full time marketing teacher so I applied for the position. At this time however I had not completed my course work and passed my comprehensive doctoral exams at Pace University. This experience confirmed that most colleges/universities would not hire new full time tenure track faculty unless they had ABD status described above. At that point I decided to refocus on completing the final doctoral program courses and pass my comprehensive exams to become ABD. Finally 18 months later with ABD status in hand, I applied again at TSC for a full time job and was offered the position of Assistant Professor in the Management/ Marketing department starting in the fall of 1989. A significant career change challenge was at hand.