My current role is instructor of statistics at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University. It is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have ever had. Teaching was always my preferred vocation, but I entered the teaching profession after a 30-year career in business. I certainly wouldn't recommend this path to everyone who wants to teach, but I think the experience has made me a much more effective teacher!

While completing my PhD dissertation, I followed the advice of my advisor to gain some practical experience before entering the teaching profession. I began my business career at Bell Laboratories developing applications to telephone company plants. For example, I modeled field operations using Semi-Markov processes in order to evaluate the effectiveness of changes to the way operations were conducted. Together with two of my colleagues, a linear programming algorithm was developed to determine the conditions under which it was most economical to increase the size of telephone facilities instead of prolonging the life of the facilities by continually making costly rearrangements. I was rewarded professionally by the publication of several papers in these subjects. The most valuable “life” lesson during this period was learning to communicate effectively with people in management and other disciplines such as engineering.

Subsequently, I transferred to AT&T where my initial assignment involved demand forecasting for AT&T long-distance services. My job was to analyze the potential demand and revenue impact of a planned major tariff restructure.