A Hoosier's Journey

Book excerpt: In September 1941, I was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. I completed elementary and secondary schools there and then in 1963 graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Indiana State College. After serving as a logistics officer for five years in the military, I worked for Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, and later for Indiana National Bank in Indianapolis, Indiana. In the 1970s, I earned master of business administration, master of science, and doctorate of philosophy degrees, and since the late 1970s, I have taught classes in economics, statistics, and business administration to undergraduate and graduate students at various American colleges and universities. Besides teaching, I have also authored articles and books about the business, economics, and operations of leagues and their franchises in professional team sports. For activities, I became a reader of Advanced Placement examinations, an investor, and a distance runner. Being a competitive and dedicated athlete, I played varsity baseball and basketball while in high school and college, and performed as an all-star catcher and pitcher in Little League and on championship teams in Babe Ruth and Connie Mack Leagues. At a baseball tryout camp for major league prospects held in Columbus, Ohio, I tried but unfortunately did not play well enough to sign a contract with a professional team. As a student, I usually earned good to excellent grades in many subjects and, in fact, was salutatorian of my class at Gerstmeyer High School. Then I graduated with an accounting degree at Indiana State College (now University), master's degrees at two universities, and a PhD in economics at Georgia State University. To achieve academically at these schools, I disciplined myself to attend lectures, complete all assignments, conscientiously study my notes and textbooks, and maximize scores on examinations and class projects. Indeed, my accomplishments as a student in high school and colleges and universities led to a career in higher education. Between the late 1970s and 2007, I was a teacher and author who taught several types of economics and business administration courses to undergraduate and graduate students at accredited schools in Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. In addition, I was a classroom instructor with the University of Maryland in Germany. The articles I wrote appeared in journals, magazines, and newspapers while my books analyzed the business, economics, finance, and operations of leagues and teams in professional baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, and soccer. Besides these experiences, I was a captain in the United States Air Force and stationed for one year in South Vietnam. Furthermore, I trained as a long-distance runner, won many age-group awards, and competed in five marathons, including races in Boston and New York City. After 35 years of fulltime teaching, I retired from Pfeiffer University in Charlotte, North Carolina. I currently live in Tega Cay, South Carolina.