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50th Anniversary Celebration: Gerstacker Institute
The Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management (formerly known as Professional Management) will celebrate its 50th anniversary Nov. 10-11. Since its founding, The Gerstacker Institute has provided a business education rooted in the liberal arts; engaged brilliant faculty and staff; positioned itself on the forefront of business education and developed cutting-edge business leaders who are visible in their communities.
The theme will be “Gerstacker Through the Years” and we invite you to join us as we reminisce about our time together and honor our institution’s past while investing in our future.
Schedule of Events
Friday, November 10, 2023
11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. | Welcome Lunch
Location: Mary Sykes Room, Baldwin Hall
Invite only. Former institute directors, current and past advisory board members.
1:30 to 3:30 p.m. | Brit Talks — Gerstackers: Where Are They Now?
Location: Norris 101
Four alumni of the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management will share inspiring stories about their careers and lives post-Albion.
Guest speakers:
- Josh Fales, ’06
- Natalie Krauss, ’18
- Caroline (Dobbins) Hurteau, ’12
- John Pearce, ’11
Learn more about the Brit Talks speakers
4 to 5 p.m. | Leisure Time
- Check into hotel
- Meet with faculty
4 to 5 p.m. | Campus Tour
Walk the campus with a current student tour guide. Meet at the Bonta Admission Center on the corner of Ditzler Way and Cass Street.
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Celebration
Location: Upper Baldwin Hall Ballroom
Saturday, November 11, 2023
8:30 to 10:30 a.m. | Gerstacker Through the Ages – Panel discussion
Location: AC3 Bank Building — downtown across from the Courtyard by Marriott
Breakfast served at 8:30 a.m.
Panel discussion will begin at 9 a.m.
Attend this session to listen to ambassadors from different decades talk about what Gerstacker meant to them. This format will be a panel discussion with a moderator and prepared questions.
- 1970s Rick Lange, ’70
- 1980s Eileen Smith, ’86
- 1990s Heather Luciani, ’94
- 2000s Meaghan (Walters) Cole, ’09 and Blake DeCarlo, ’09
- 2010s Jacob Lee, ’10
- 2020s Ellie Debo, ’22
Learn more about the Gerstacker Ambassadors
10:30 to 11:30 a.m. | Future Initiatives
Location: AC3 Bank Building
The Vice President of Advancement, Marc Newman, will share updates from the department of Institutional Advancement.
Roy Mathews will provide Gerstacker Institute updates, potential regional event ideas and share steps in which attendees can get involved with Gerstacker.
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free Time
Stop downtown Albion for lunch at alumni owned Malleable Brewing Company or the Foundry Backhouse and Deli. Many shops are also owned by alumni.
1 p.m. | Albion College football game
Come watch the Britons take on the Alma College Scots. Tickets available at the gate or purchase online. Go Brits!
Lodging
The preferred lodging is the Courtyard by Marriot — Albion. You can receive a discounted rate by booking online and using the “Special Rates” dropdown, selecting “Group Code” and entering one of the following codes:
- ALBALBQ for queen rooms
- ALBALBG for king rooms
Other area hotels can be found on the Where to Stay page.
Hosts
Vicki Baker
Recognized as a “Top 100 Visionary” in Education by the Global Forum for Education and Learning (2020-2021) and a “Top 10 Visionary in Education in 2023” by CioLook Magazine, Vicki is at the forefront of innovation and strategy in faculty and leadership development. A faculty member and Fulbright Specialist Alumna (Utrecht, Netherlands), Vicki’s goal is to help faculty members, colleges, and universities thrive. She is the E. Maynard Aris Endowed Professor in Economics and Management at Albion College, where she serves as Chair of the Economics & Management Department. Vicki was selected as an ACE Fellow (2023-2024) and will spend the spring 2024 semester at Hope College.
Prior to joining the academy as a faculty member, Vicki worked at Harvard Business School (Executive Education) and AK Steel Corporation. She earned her PhD (Higher Education) and MS (Management & Organization) from Penn State University, MBA from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and BS from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She holds a certificate in Human Resource Management (Villanova University) and is a Certified Professional in HR through the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Vicki is the author of Charting Your Path to Full: A Guide for Women Associate Professors, lead editor of Success After Tenure: Supporting Mid-Career Faculty, and lead co-author of Developing Faculty in Liberal Arts Colleges. Her recent book, Managing Your Academic Career: A Guide to Re-envision Mid-Career (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) and New Directions in Higher Education volume, Bridging the Research-Practice Nexus: Resources, Tools, and Strategies to Navigate Mid-Career in the Academy (Wiley) are now in print. She is editor of A Toolkit for Mid-Career: Cultivating Career Advancement which will be in print spring 2024 (Routledge/Taylor & Francis). She has written over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, invited opinion pieces for higher education news media outlets, case studies and blogs on the topics of faculty and leadership development and higher education.
Vicki’s work has been featured in national/international media outlets including WalletHub, Times Higher Education, Hechinger Report, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, USA Today, New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Huffington Post. She regularly consults with industry and higher education institutions on the topics of leadership, faculty development, change management, and mentoring. Vicki has conducted workshops, scholarly presentations, and keynote addresses at professional associations including the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the Council for the Advancement of Higher Education Programs, the American Educational Research Association, and the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD).
Roy K. Mathews
Roy K. Mathews, adjunct professor, accepted the role of interim director of the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management and assumed the position Dec. 1, 2022. Mathews, extremely popular with students and faculty alike, is looking forward to leading the Gerstacker Institute in partnership with the Economics and Management Department (E&M).
“We have an opportunity to capitalize on the connection among our curricular, co-curricular, experiential and community-focused experiences by reaffirming the relationship between Gerstacker and E&M,” said Dr. Vicki Baker, E&M department chair and professor.
Mathews’ transition is supported by former directors John B. Bedient, emeritus, and Baker. Both are long-time members of the Albion faculty and will be active and visible with student recruitment and alumni engagement.
“I am thrilled with and encouraged by the support of all my colleagues,” Mathews said. “I am passionate about helping students achieve their academic goals and feel uniquely qualified to marry the academic and administrative goals of Albion College and the Gerstacker Institute.”
Mathews, who graduated with a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1990, also received another bachelor’s degree in finance in 2007 and an M.B.A in 2009, both from the University of Phoenix. He taught at Spring Arbor University and several other colleges and universities in southern Michigan before joining Albion College to teach economics.
“Being at Albion is like coming home again,” Mathews said. “The students, fellow faculty and wonderful staff have made my experiences here most welcoming and enriching. I can confidently and comfortably say that there is no other campus or institution for which I would work. It also has the most amazing student body, which no other campus can claim!”