October 01, 2016

Welcoming our first-year students to Apfelbaum Hall had even deeper meaning this year, as that was the day we learned Emeritus Trustee Sidney Apfelbaum H’09 had passed away.

Marsha Kelliher, Dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business

Sidney’s legacy extends throughout the Susquehanna Valley and beyond, and it is an honor to work in a building that bears his name.

I met Sidney and Carole Apfelbaum when I interviewed for the dean’s position. During our meeting, Sidney made it quite clear he had high expectations for the Sigmund Weis School of Business. He shared that the school was endowed by his close friend, the late philanthropist Charles Degenstein, in honor of Charles’ father-in-law, Sigmund Weis. While I had researched the history of the school in advance of my meeting with Sidney and Carole, it wasn’t until after I joined Susquehanna University that I began to understand the profound impact Sidney and Charles had on the university and in particular the business school. Because Charles had passed away long before I became dean, I treasured my time with Sidney as he regaled me with stories about their adventures. As a member of our Advisory Council, he provided me and my predecessors with sage advice and helped shape the strategic direction of the school.

In my annual opening remarks to the first-year students, I share that we have high expectations for them both in the classroom and in our community, because they are not just college students, they are students in the Sigmund Weis School of Business. We will forever be grateful to Charles and Sidney for their vision, support and generosity. Through our commitment to excellence in the classroom, our research, and service to our community and professions, we, as faculty, will strive to honor them.

While we will miss Sidney’s visits to campus, he will continue to inspire us to set high expectations of our students, ourselves and the school. How could we not when Apfelbaum Hall is home to the Sigmund Weis School of Business.