Common Sense Approach

I was a student of Professor Ray Pepin in the early 1970s and found him inspiring as he shared his commonsense approach to business, economics and finance.

When I enrolled in his Microeconomics class, I had no idea that I would become an economics major. After this course, I was hooked and took every course he offered. I even completed an independent study senior year and wrote a paper using econometric theory to predict the impact of car design on gas mileage—a pretty important piece of work during the fuel crisis of the early ’70s.

Towards the end of my career, I was CEO of a private equity investment company and was asked to provide expert testimony in a real estate lawsuit. After my testimony, the arbiter said he thought I was a behavioral economist and that my testimony reflected a commonsense approach to business. At that point, I thought of Professor Pepin and thanked him for all that he gave me in terms of education, thought processes and an opportunity for a very rewarding career.

Because of the dedication of people like him, I have stayed close to Stonehill over the last 50-plus years. It was a distinct honor to spend 17 years as a Trustee of Stonehill and six as chair of the finance committee, where I was able to put Professor Pepin’s commonsense approach to work on behalf of the College.