My real name is Gerald Gruber. I am a public school graduate of the Arthur Dixon grade school, and Emil G. Hirsch high school in Chicago. I am fortunate my parents were able to send me to college at DePauw University in Greencastle. Indiana. After graduating in 1959 with BA degrees in History and Economics, I attended The Graduate School of Business (now the Booth Graduate School of Business) at the University of Chicago. I took my MBA degree in Accounting and graduated in 1961.
I served six-month active duty in the Army and fulfilled the remainder of my service obligation in the Reserve with an Honorable Discharge in 1967.
I am grateful that most of my university education was given to learning theories and concepts. When I took and passed the CPA examination in 1963, I had only sixteen hours of accounting-requisite courses. The entire book of Accounting Principles amounted to fewer than two-hundred pages at that time. Then, too, it helped enormously that my first job was with the public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co in Chicago.
I enjoyed my business career a great deal. I had only one employment that was without enjoyment, and that was enough to guide the remainder of my position selections toward a higher purpose. I found it a blessing to move about as a finance and management consulting generalist. In particular, along with AA&Co., I enjoyed my management consulting positions at Cresap, McCormick and Paget, Inc. very much. My last position was the capstone of my career. My original career objective from Business School was to become the Chief Financial Officer of a public company. I had a preceding position as the President of a financial printing company, but I think of John Quincy Adams, after leaving the White House, he served as a Representative in Congress. Very usefully to the country he was. I believe he might have had a lifelong ambition to be a legislator, and fulfilled it until the end. My “fulfilling job” was at a national digital transcription business whose owner was transforming it to a technology-leading enterprise that changed the industry. The company was acquired by a much bigger competitor at a very substantial price; reflecting the fact that it was necessary for the acquirer to save its own future. I retired with this exit in 1998.
My business farewell is this blog. Retirement has been enjoyable and I remain healthy to enjoy it.
Introducing Publiustoo.com’s author. July 9, 2019
