On May 16, 2024, in a room full of Montclair alumni, Dr. Richard L. Peterson learned a little something about the impact one professor can have.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome students mentioned things that I said in class 15 or 20 years ago,\u201d he says with surprise.<\/p>\n
As a member of the Carpe Diem Society, Montclair\u2019s circle of donors who have included the University in their estate plans, Peterson is ensuring that his impact continues far into the future. \u201cIt\u2019s all about supporting the students,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n
Yet Peterson never really set out to become an educator. \u201cIn the 1980s, I was working in publishing, for McGraw Hill,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat\u2019s where I met two Montclair professors who were authoring books. One of them was teaching records management. She found out I was living in Montclair and invited me to teach as an adjunct instructor.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is hard to imagine today, but at the time computer technology as a business tool was in its infancy. Montclair was at the cutting edge with a program in Business Education and Office Systems Administration. \u201cOur students were secretaries and people who were planning to teach secretarial skills in high schools,\u201d Peterson recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe department evolved along with the technology,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe began with large computers owned by outside companies. Then desktop PCs came along, and the University built its own computer services team. We started teaching word processing and spreadsheet programs, and then branched out into management information systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Montclair\u2019s academic programs grew into this new space, Peterson\u2019s involvement with the University deepened. \u201cBy 1995 I was a consultant in the information technology field, which meant an extensive travel schedule,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to be in one place. Fortunately, I was able to join the Montclair faculty full-time, and became chair of the Information Management and Business Analytics Department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peterson held that role until 2010. He stayed on as a member of the faculty, and in 2013 he co-chaired the department\u2019s curriculum revision initiative. Over the course of his academic career, he has taught courses in management information systems, systems analysis and design, decision support systems, telecommunications and database issues, office information systems, management science, statistics, business research, business communications, and personal finance. In addition, Peterson authored, and co-authored, numerous books, book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and proceedings. In 2009, he earned an Outstanding Empirical Research Paper award from the Decision Sciences Institute.<\/p>\n
Many of the accolades Peterson acquired over the years relate as much to service as to scholarship, including honorary member and advisor, Alpha Kappa Psi (September 1998); the George Abrams Award for Outstanding Service, Alpha Kappa Psi (1998 and 1999); member, Phi Kappa Phi (2002); member, Beta Gamma Sigma (2001); Outstanding Service Award for Service Learning, Montclair State University (2000); and the Service Award from the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines (2009).<\/p>\n
Peterson retired as a full-time professor in 2022, but he continues to teach as an adjunct and emeritus professor. His primary focus is on business communications and public speaking. \u201cThe ability to communicate effectively is so fundamental, no matter what career you choose,\u201d Peterson notes.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that helps explain why, when asked to help organize an alumni luncheon, Peterson wanted to focus on a smaller event that would allow for lots of conversation. \u201cI have kept in touch with a lot of my former students, mentoring many over the course of their careers,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was so much fun to see them all together and to share memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of those memories involved Peterson\u2019s emphasis on hands-on experiential learning. \u201cIn the early 2000s, a lot of small organizations \u2013 daycare centers, schools, and social agencies in particular \u2013 didn\u2019t have computers,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI engaged students in refurbishing used computers in offices and then training the staff in how to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe much of my current path to Dr. Peterson\u2019s guidance and encouragement,” says Ore Fasehun \u201907, \u201910 MS, now a corporate development and finance lead at Motherson Group. “Without the scholarship that enabled me to attend graduate school, and without Dr. Peterson\u2019s mentorship, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today.”<\/p>\n
Of his recent estate planning commitment, Peterson says, \u201cMy wife and I would like to memorialize the many connections we have with Montclair. In addition to my long career as a professor, my mother-in-law worked as a secretary at the University for many years. And when my father-in-law retired, he audited courses for fun \u2013 he so enjoyed meeting the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, Peterson hopes his philanthropy will help students now, and in the future. \u201cI have always had a lot of admiration for Montclair students. They are often the first in their families to go to college, and they are extremely hardworking, intelligent and loyal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alumni who came to our luncheon had been with their companies for 10 or 15 years! That is an amazing level of commitment. Any company would do well to hire a Montclair graduate. Any donor would do well to support them!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Richard L. Peterson has taught and mentored thousands of students pursuing careers in management information systems, helping the University\u2019s programs adapt as technology evolved. With his commitment of an estate gift, he is memorializing his career while demonstrating his admiration for Montclair\u2019s students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":1674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montclair-state-university-donors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1670,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668\/revisions\/1670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}