76 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | IN REMEMBRANCE J. Richard Aronson, the founder and former longtime director of the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise and the former William L. Clayton professor of Business and Economics at Lehigh, passed away Jan. 15, 2023. In his 50-plus-year career at Lehigh, Aronson was believed to have taught more students than any other professor at the university—an estimated 20,000 students. He also influenced the lives of hundreds of Martindale Student Associates who benefited from life-changing trips to countries that included Slovenia, Colombia, Greece and Argentina. “It’s hard to overstate how much Rich meant to Lehigh and his students, colleagues and friends,” said Todd Watkins, executive director of the Martindale Center who succeeded Aronson after he retired from Lehigh in 2015. “Since word got out about his passing, literally hundreds have reached out to us here at the Martindale Center … to express condolences certainly, but even more to share stories of how Rich had so affected their lives, and their honor and joy of having known him.” One person offering condolences had described him perfectly, Watkins said, invoking a word that the writer said Aronson might have used but not about himself–mensch. “Indeed he was, in every way: honor, integrity, kindness, true compassion for those around him, and always with that wonderful twinkle in his eyes that we all knew,” Watkins said. “He clearly enjoyed every moment and every interaction in his life.” As a teacher and mentor, Aronson was extraordinarily well liked yet challenging in the classroom. He was a widely published scholar with a passion for his discipline, as well as a groundbreaking educator who, with the Martindale Student Associates program, embraced experiential undergraduate research with deep global engagement long before global and experiential learning “were even things” on university campuses, Watkins said. It was Aronson who had long ago invited the Marching 97 into his Eco 1 class, starting the still-continuing tradition of the band coming into classrooms before the Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry. “He helped students find their interests and themselves and jobs, and even some find spouses,” Watkins said. “He could tell a fun story about, well, anything.” Aronson’s most lasting legacy, family and colleagues say, was his work in starting the Martindale Center in 1980, his directorship of that program until 2015, and his continued connection to Martindale alumni. “He lit up every classroom he stood in front of, with a sense of humor and the ability to make you consider new ways of thinking about how economies work and interact with one another,” Elizabeth (Humphreys) Beatty ’84 ’16P, a Martindale Honors graduate, posted on Instagram. During his tenure, Aronson received four teaching awards: the Lehigh University Award in 1968 for distinguished teaching by a junior faculty member; the Stabler Award in 1974 for demonstrating mastery of his field and superior ability in communicating it to others; the Deming Lewis Faculty Award in 1984, given by the Class of 1974 to the faculty member who most significantly influenced their educational experience; and the Beta Gamma Sigma Award presented by the Business Honorary Society. He also received the Hillman Award for service to the university and the Libsch Award for research.—Mary Ellen Alu “HE LIT UP EVERY CLASSROOM HE STOOD IN FRONT OF, WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE YOU CONSIDER NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT HOW ECONOMIES WORK AND INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER.” —Elizabeth (Humphreys) Beatty ’84 ’16P A Groundbreaking Educator J. Richard Aronson created and directed the Martindale Center. REMEMBERING J. Richard Aronson Aronson on a Martindale research trip to Greece.
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