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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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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. “91ֱ�� is a much more entrepreneurial place than I think people realize.” 

After graduating from 91ֱ��, 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 business 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. 

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, 91ֱ��’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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� Student Cooperative Association (OSCA). 

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. 91ֱ�� 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 .

“A lot of the experiential side of what I hope a business program will offer at 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ��’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 91ֱ��’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 management. “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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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 91ֱ�� 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 of the 91ֱ�� Alumni Magazine.