After my “retirement” from the work force I took on a number of different activities on what I would consider a  volunteer basis.  At the Union League Club of Chicago I was heavily involved with the EducationSub-Committee of the Public Affairs Committee.  The project was to develop a turn-around plan for Medill School and involved creating a Balanced Scorecard to help implement strategy.  I also served as a Real Men Read volunteer for 5th and 6th graders.

Next I served as an Adjunct Professor in the Mathematics Department of the City Colleges of Chicago Harold Washington campus where I taught the course on Statistics to students not on the Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) track.  To make the subject engaging to this group was a good challenge that involved research, writing, and group presentations and not just memorizing formulae.

At the present time I am able to fulfill my life-long dream to be a bicycle mechanic.  Unable to use dangerous chemicals in my condo’s garage, I volunteered at Working Bikes, a 501(3)c organization that recycles old or abandoned bicycles and sends them to countries where having a bicycle can make a big difference in the lives of their owners.

Here’s a short summary of my professional experience and background.

Work Experience

2007 – 2013 Blumenthal-Hart Ltd. Chicago, IL
Vice President

• Consults with hedge funds and private investors about the education textbook industry and electronic books.
• Implements Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map for strategic planning.
• Consults on wide range of projects dealing with strategy, growth targets, forecasting, and education.
• Designs, develops, and maintains technology infrastructure to ensure leading edge capabilities and high levels of operational efficiency.

1992 – 2007 Follett Corporation River Grove, IL

Follett Corporation is a privately held company in the educational services industry. With annual sales in excess of $2 billion, Follett manages over 700 college bookstores and distributes books and materials to schools and libraries.

Director of Strategy and Research

• Acted as a consultant on a wide variety of studies involving economics, statistical concepts, risk and uncertainty, benchmarking, and simulation modeling.
• Prepared Strategic Plan for enterprise and managed the process that includes setting of revenue and economic profitability targets in a newly revamped Strategy & Business Development Department.
• Performed econometric analyses of sales and profitability for individual operating companies and help refine their forecasting abilities.
• Established a Balanced Scorecard process and implemented a web based reporting system

Corporate Director for Technology Development

• Created a strategic plan for a newly formed Corporate Technology Group.
• Developed strategies for digital content delivery and identified opportunities for new business ventures in this emerging technology area.
• Authored a weekly report on new technologies, eBooks, research, Internet commerce, and other timely issues related to Follett Corporation’s overall business mission in education and distributed it over the intranet.

Corporate Director – Strategic Planning and Information Systems

• Recruited by the Chairman of the Board to establish a formal corporate planning activity and to create an electronic network allowing divisions to communicate with each other and their customers.
• Established a yearly planning cycle for comprehensive strategic planning and developed planning guides for all divisions. Worked with and modified the system over several years.
• Designed and managed the installation of a wide area network that connected Follett to the Internet in 1993, years before it became attractive commercially.
• Worked with the Corporate Director of Business Development to create business strategies and plans for several business opportunities.
• Played an integral role in bringing one project to conclusion, creating an outsourcing service to public and government libraries now the largest such service provider in the field today.
• Represented Follett on numerous industry committees:
  • Board of Directors and Treasurer Book Industry Study Group,
  • Chairman of the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee,
  • National Information Standards Organization, and
  • Uniform Code council.

Co-Director – Unified Software Project

• Asked by the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation to study and develop a recommendation for Point of Sale technology investment for two divisions.
• Developed a comprehensive list of requirements and tested the list with internal potential user groups. Hired a market research firm to hold focus groups with college bookstores to test feasibility of system outside of Follett.
• Performed extensive cost-benefit analysis for a range of project alternatives and negotiated a license for a core register and back office system.
• Authored a popular, widely distributed pamphlet on retail product marking standards in the college store.

1985 – 1992 Follett Campus Resources Chicago, IL

Director – Planning and Development

• Hired by the Division President to implement and expand upon a number of recommendations to improve their market share in the face of new competition and technology advances.
• Established the first comprehensive planning function within the division. Redesigned the business unit budgeting system to reflect responsibility accounting.
• Created, hired, and managed the division controller and internal programming staff. Installed local area network to support warehouse operations.

1978 – 1985 The Jeffrey Corporation Deerfield, IL

President

Operated a consulting practice specializing in business turn-around strategies, loan workout programs, process re-engineering, activity based costing, and startup business development.

1969 – 1978 Planmetrics, Inc. Chicago, IL

Vice President – Forecasting Division

One of the original principals in this firm that provided consulting and software development services to businesses. Headed the utility rates and economics practice.

1965 – 1969 Sylvania / GT&E Mountain View, CA

Sr. Research Engineer

Analyzed military communications and weapons systems vulnerability to electronic threats.  Most project were classified as Top Secret.

1968 Bolt Baranek & Newman Cambridge, MA

Consultant

On the recommendation of myadvisor at Stanford, i took leave of absence from Sylvania / GT&E to work at BBN as part of my Engineer’s thesis. Worked on a timesharing service and the ARPANET project that later became the Internet.

Teaching Experience

2011- 2013 City Colleges of Chicago, Harold Washington College Chicago, IL

Adjunct Professor in the Mathematics Department teaching Statistics.

1984 – 1986 Lake Forest Graduate School of Mgt. Lake Forest, IL

Taught courses on Strategic Planning and Quantitative Methods; created Custom Anthology for Strategic Planning course.

1979 – 1982 Northwestern University Evanston, IL

Adjunct Faculty, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department where he taught a course on simulation models in business and economics. Authored text for course.

Education

• Engineer, Engineering-Economic Systems (1969) Stanford University, CA
• Master of Science, Electrical Engineering (1964) Stanford University, CA
• Certificate of Advanced Engineering Study (1995) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Bachelor of Engineering Physics (1963) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Activities (Past and present)

• Economic Club of Chicago
• The Union League Club of Chicago
• National Association for Business Economics
• Co-Founder of the NABE/CPS Economics After School Club
• Chicago Principal for a Day
• Member of the Medill School Turnaround Project
• MENtor in Real Men Read Project
• Former Trustee, Village of Deerfield, Illinois
• Former Chairman, Deerfield CATV Committee
• Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Book Industry Study Group
• Chairman of the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee