Oberlin Alumni Magazine
Taking Care of Business
January 13, 2025
Rachel Abbey McCafferty
It’s a warm afternoon in early October, and Associate Professor of Business Eric Lin is in a third-floor classroom in King, engaged in a robust discussion about new product strategy with his fall semester marketing class.
Students made a case for whether the healthy convenience food brand Annie’s could—or should— expand into new products like frozen pizza. Sharing their own experiences with the brand and what it means when a company they trust changes its approach, they built off each other’s points and gently pushed back when they disagreed.
Through the conversation, students collectively put forth, critiqued, and refined a narrative that helped them identify core customers, product attributes, and pricing logic, then undertook another discussion about how their ideas for growth would cause Annie’s to change or maintain its marketing strategy across product, price, promotion, and distribution.
Business is something that’s taught not just by doing lecture, but through doing and through feedback and apprenticeship.
Eric Lin, Associate Professor of Business
Lin has a subtle way of teaching, working his questions into the larger conversation and pulling the threads students brought to the surface to keep the discussion flowing. Case in point: The class ended with a debate on whether companies should always chase continued profit growth—and a promise to continue the conversation next time.
The popularity of this marketing class—it was nearly at capacity, enrolling close to 50 students—and the direction of the discussion is no surprise to Lin. Oberlin students want to have an impact on the world, he says. And they see that business is about more than creating profits; it’s about creating value.
“As a set of skills or a discipline, business is very complementary to a lot of what Oberlin stands for,” he says. “No matter what you’re doing—whether you’re working in science, social policy, or being an artist—having an impact means getting beyond your own brain and your own two hands. It’s about designing and leading collaborative approaches.
“And that means you’re going to organize people, talent, opportunities, or assets to have a bigger impact than yourself, working with other people,” he continues. “How do we do that well—and how do we do that effectively—is what a lot of business education tries to address.”
STUDENTS WILL LEARN SKILLS in all of these areas if they pursue Oberlin’s new business major, available starting in fall 2025 with Lin as program chair, as well as two new tenure-track faculty joining then, and a program committee with faculty from a wide range of disciplines, including data science, philosophy, psychology, contemporary music/improvisation, and economics. Launched with broad faculty support, this curriculum expansion reflects immense student interest in business. It also comes on the heels of a transformative $5 million gift commitment from Irene and Alan Wurtzel ’55; the latter is the former Circuit City CEO and one of Oberlin’s most prominent alums in business. Last year, the couple established the Alan L. ’55 and Irene R. Wurtzel Endowed Fund for Business Education.
When Dean of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka introduced the idea of a business program, he was struck by how many Oberlin alumni have pursued careers in business and finance—the third-largest sector after education and health care. In designing a liberal arts curriculum for the 21st century that builds on Oberlin’s classic liberal arts core, business is among those majors Kamitsuka considers “catalytic,” he says. “It offers a set of skills and experiences through which our students can bring their extraordinary liberal arts knowledge to a wide range of sectors.”
The business major builds on things Oberlin already offers, including multiple student activities and the popular business integrative concentration that launched in 2021. Its introduction follows the fall 2024 launch of another desired new major, financial economics. Although the two courses of study are related—among other things, both are data-driven and require a strong analytical foundation—financial economics focuses on topics like the study of financial markets and trading exchanges and how to value and regulate securities. The Oberlin business major, meanwhile, teaches a foundation of basic business skills and concepts with a focus on what Lin calls “operating decisions”—for example, how assets, opportunities, and talent combine to create value.
Many undergraduate business programs are modeled on MBAs, which means they’re essentially scaled-down versions of a postgraduate business degree. That’s not necessarily the best approach, Lin says; undergraduate students don’t always have the real-life experiences of MBA students, who often have many years of full-time work in their background. At Oberlin, the business major plans to “build the experience while we are delivering the lesson,” Lin says. “Business is something that’s taught not just by lecture, but through doing and through feedback and apprenticeship.”
As the Annie’s discussion illustrates, Lin will employ the case method in his classes. This teaching approach uses examples that mirror “the complexities students will encounter in the real world,” he says. “Unlike traditional problem sets, which often present a neatly packaged and controlled scenario, case studies place students in a dynamic environment where they must sift through a blend of relevant and extraneous data, navigating ambiguity much like they would in an actual business setting. Students practice making decisions, defending their assumptions, and tackling complex, open-ended problems that don’t have one right answer.
“[The case method] aligns with Oberlin’s commitment to critical thinking and holistic problem-solving,” Lin says. “By working through cases, students learn to think on their feet, collaborate, and adapt—skills that are invaluable in any professional path they choose.”
The business major also possesses a strong focus on cocurricular experiences. For example, students will complete a formal experiential learning experience (e.g., an internship) along with a capstone course in strategy that integrates what they’ve learned in marketing, operations, and finance courses. Lin also plans to continue teaching studio classes where students consult on actual problems companies are facing.
“We want to make what happens inside the classroom feel as realistic as possible,” Lin says. “We want to bring people in from the business community and give students exposure to that. That’s what allows the lessons to make a lasting impact for anybody, but undergraduates in particular.”
Oberlin’s emphasis on interdisciplinary education also offers an advantage for a business major. “Our students are going to think about multiple things at once from multiple lenses,” Lin says, noting that this approach can often cause anxiety and confusion in students. “But I’ve noticed that Oberlin students can thrive in these ambiguous environments—and learn quickly that examining something from multiple vantage points leads to unique insights.” That means being comfortable with classes where the whole point is integrating diverse perspectives—like a previous class on the history of rock ’n’ roll and business—or learning how concepts like marketing and operations are informed by a cultural context in messy, fascinating real-world scenarios.
Above all, Oberlin’s small campus size and the intellectual rigor of the liberal arts environment differentiate the business major. “Students come to liberal arts schools for that intimacy, that access to experts, and for professors who know and care about them personally,” Lin says. Once the major launches, students will have the opportunity to tailor their Oberlin business experience: pursue the major or integrative concentration; take individual classes that meet their interests and needs; or choose to go the popular double-degree route.
Lin says Oberlin will also incorporate existing strengths in areas like the arts and environmental sciences into the business program. That could give students the opportunity to approach business in a new way, such as learning arts management by studying how arts organizations or arts-related businesses operate.
“In addition to being a great program and a great student experience, we’re aiming to build knowledge in business that doesn’t exist today,” Lin says. “I’m eager to see Oberlin contribute to the conversations among practitioners and scholars of management.”
STUDENTS ARE ALREADY BENEFITING FROM alumni expertise in the business world via Winter Term projects, internships, and panel discussions. In recent years, alumni have also been integral to the on-campus momentum behind the business integrative concentration and now the major. Alumni designed and supported the entrepreneurship-focused initiative LaunchU, and as members of the entrepreneurship board, they have provided consultation in the recent Pathfinder Program. Parents and alumni were also important partners as Oberlin built the business curriculum. For one semester, Richard Kesner ’73 drew from his 20-plus years teaching business to undergraduates and taught Business 101, an introduction to the field.
When Jesse Gerstin ’07 started teaching business at Oberlin in summer 2021 as part of the launch of the integrative concentration, he served as entrepreneur-in-residence and led classes in areas like sustainable accounting and impact finance. He also worked collaboratively with college staff to establish the Impact Investment Advisory Group.
Gerstin was impressed by the passion Oberlin students had for these courses. “There’s a real appetite from students to do [business classes],” he says, noting that every class he taught at the college had a waiting list. “Oberlin is a much more entrepreneurial place than I think people realize.”
After graduating from Oberlin, Gerstin earned an MBA and built a career in climate finance and now holds a job in the sustainability finance space. But he didn’t study anything related to business during his time here; instead, he studied French and international relations and geology. As an undergrad, he says he saw himself as more of an activist and thought of business largely in terms of “big business and corporate”—in other words, things he wasn’t interested in. Today’s students see business differently, he says, and the busi-ness world itself has been changing over time, being held more accountable. The younger generation is often “drawn to then being part of that shift,” he says.
Mayanka Dahl ’25 (at right) speaks up during Eric Lin's fall 2024 marketing class.
Photo credit: Mike Crupi
Associate Professor of Business Eric Lin.
Photo credit: Mike Crupi
Kay Patrolia ’25, a studio art major minoring in art history, realized that business was crucial to their future career.
Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97
Eric Steggall, managing director for theater, dance, and opera, thinks the college’s progressive, activist culture will differentiate its business program from others. “Unlike some bigger schools, Oberlin’s size, attitude, and history makes us agile,” Steggall says. “There’s a nimbleness to our ability to respond to our students.”
Take theater, for example. When Steggall arrived at Oberlin a little more than a decade ago, he wanted to add a class focused on arts management to help teach students more about the business of theater and related fields like opera, dance, or TV. In his career, Steggall learned most of those lessons on the job, and while this experience was valuable, he wanted his classes to focus on what he wished he would have learned in school before entering the workforce.
For example, one meeting of his Arts Management I class focused on economics and why someone in arts management needs to pay attention to the larger market forces at play. Economics, he explained, is about costs and trade-offs—a high-level concept he made tangible by using examples students would have already found in their own lives, like scheduling classes or finding housing. In terms of housing, that might mean weighing the cost of a home against the time of a commute. The arts make products that people need to find valuable enough to spend their money, time, or energy on, he says.
Kay Patrolia ’25, a studio art major minoring in art history, realized that to be an artist, “understanding the ins and outs of arts business terrain is incredibly useful to my future career.” Pursuing the business integrative concentration was the solution. “I wasn’t interested in an economics or accounting minor because it wouldn’t apply directly to the focus of my studies,” they said.
“Through the business concentration, I was able to apply my learning specifically to studio art.”
Among other things, the concentration helped them work directly with the owners of small arts businesses like For Ewe, owned by Lisa Whitfield ’90, and Massachusetts-based Inky Hands Print Studio and Gallery. “This has helped me visualize, in a hands-on fashion, what operating an arts business would look like, including the highs and the lows,” Patrolia says.
The concentration also taught them about the importance of networking and setting short- and long-term career goals. “As an artist, it can often seem like it’s you against the world,” Patrolia says. “But I feel so fortunate to know how important it is to have a community of people who I can look to for support, assistance, and critique when it comes to my art.”
These connections have endured, as Patrolia has kept in touch with teachers and colleagues, “supporting their work and inviting them to engage with my own,” they add. “The business integrative concentration facilitated this crossroads approach to art networking that I wouldn’t have been able to find in a usual business/economics course.”
HISTORICALLY, OBERLIN HAS ALSO produced successful entrepreneurs and business executives thanks to activities outside of the classroom, like the student-run nonprofit Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA).
A lot of the experiential side of what I hope a business program will offer at Oberlin has been happening, and I think that’s really been consciously cultivated at a curricular level, at a programmatic level, for many years.
Gregory Ristow ’01, Associate Professor of Conducting
That’s long been evident to Gregory Ristow ’01, an associate professor of conducting who works in the conservatory as the director of vocal ensembles. Oberlin students are involved in their studies, he says, but they’re also active in other ways outside the classroom. They’re creating musical groups to highlight student-composed pieces. They’re writing and staging musicals. And they’re running the dining and residence programs of Oberlin’s co-ops.
“A lot of the experiential side of what I hope a business program will offer at Oberlin has been happening,” he says, “and I think that’s really been consciously cultivated at a curricular level, at a programmatic level, for many years.”
Ristow knows firsthand that conservatory students want to bolster their business skills and acumen, given the career pathways many alums take after college. After all, he’s also an entrepreneur, having founded uTheory, an online program to help people learn the fundamentals of music reading. Today’s arts graduates often need to be both artists and businesspeople to know how to do things like promote their work and book their own gigs, he says.
Though students have the will and the ideas, Ristow notes they don’t always have the business skills—or even realize that’s something they’re missing. “The reality is that probably more leave with great ideas with what they want to do but without necessarily the set of skills or how to make that sustainable and successful in the real world,” Ristow says. He sees the business program as a solution, taking the experiences students are already getting and connecting the dots on how to create and market something in a way that can lead to a career.
To Natalie Winkelfoos, associate vice president for athletics advancement and the Delta Lodge director of athletics and physical education, playing collegiate sports also overlaps with the business world: Both things require leadership, discipline, and strategic thinking.
Failure and opportunity for growth are common in sports; likewise, competition requires athletes to embrace feedback from coaches and teammates. This mindset applies well to business, where success depends on adapting to customer needs and overcoming challenges.
“Excelling as an athlete on a team demands flexibility,” Winkelfoos says. “It means collaborating with people who have different working styles, strengths, and weaknesses from you. At the same time, you need to develop a strong sense of self-awareness. Agility, resilience, and the ability to adapt to an ever-changing landscape are essential.”
Take Zander Norris ’23, who came to Oberlin knowing he wanted to play baseball, but also that the college was a place he could explore his academic interests. His father had been a history major, and Norris knew that was an interest for him, too. But he had also long been interested in statistics and the labor market and the way those intersected with baseball.
He ended up majoring in history and economics and took part in the Ashby Business Scholars program at the recommendation of a teammate. This program gives students from different majors the chance to learn about financial concepts and professional development in a classroom setting and connect them with business professionals in Oberlin’s network.
The Ashby Business Scholars program is a good example of experiential learning experiences available to students interested in business—and the way these hands-on experiences lead students to their chosen careers.
For Lily Gonzalez ’26, a financial economics and mathematics double major with a business concentration who’s also an Impact Investment Fellow, the Ashby Scholars program builds on the key concepts and strategies taught in Oberlin’s business and economics classes. “What excites me most about the program is the chance to see firsthand how these ideas play out in real-world settings and to learn directly from people who use them in their day-to-day work.” It’s also helping Gonzalez—who worked with the risk team at PPM America, a fixed-income asset manager for Jackson Financial Insurance, as part of a summer 2024 internship—connect with people working in areas in which she’s interested, such as research and operations at investment firms.
Likewise, Menard Simoya ’27—a double major in computer science and economics—says the Ashby Business Scholars program “offers an invaluable chance to merge my academic focus on finance and technology with practical, career-focused development.” As examples, he cites an exposure to financial analysis, stock pitching, and project man agement. “I plan to network with finance and tech professionals who will provide valuable insights and connections, preparing me for internships and future career opportunities.”
NORRIS GRADUATED TOO SOON to be a business major, but he’s excited to see Oberlin add this option. Today, he’s an analyst at PNC in Washington, a newer branch for the banking system as it expands westward. The business skills he learned at Oberlin have been valuable, but so have things like promoting his own brand and behaving professionally. And the network he built has been critical, he says, noting the strong relationships professors and students can build at a small liberal arts college.
Danforth-Lewis Professor of Economics John Duca notes that in today’s world of AI and automation, students with problem-solving skills and an ability to be innovative—two hallmarks of a liberal arts education— also have an advantage in the workplace. Lin also sees that having a solid foundation in quantitative analysis and decision-making widens career paths for students.
“With the business program, we’re giving students the opportunity to develop these crucial quantitative skills,” he says. “No matter what students plan on doing after graduation, knowing how to use data when making decisions or solving problems is key to career success.”
At the end of the day, it’s a good thing to have Oberlin alums bringing progressive values, an entrepreneurial spirit, and exceptional critical thinking skills to the business world. Even for students who don’t go on to work in business, studying it “helps students see more possibilities in their talents,” Lin says.
“When you can recognize a problem and communicate a compelling story of how you help others by solving it at scale, your opportunities to create impact will always be abundant,” he says. “I want Oberlin students to genuinely and credibly feel that confidence. Regardless of domain, that abundance allows students to build careers that are in tune with their talents, passions, and desire to make a difference.”
Rachel Abbey McCafferty is a freelance writer and editor from Northeast Ohio who covers education and business.
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.
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