Jeffrey Steinberg, Class of 1985, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Database Marketing, Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation

Jeffrey Steinberg came to Clark for its small class sizes and liberal-arts focus. In his first semester, he rediscovered his love of geography-a field in which Clark has an international reputation for excellence. "Maps bring data to life," Steinberg says, "and it was my years at Clark that brought this side of me to life." In fact, Steinberg credits his first Clark geography course taught by Professor Martyn Bowden with changing his life.

I arrived at Clark in September of 1981. I chose Clark because I was looking for a smaller, more intimate academic setting that was outside of New York City, where I went to high school. I had looked at several other liberal-arts schools, and they were all much larger, more impersonal-from the large class sizes to the dorms that went on forever and ever.

What I had not realized at the time was that Clark was-and still is-a world-class school for geography. Geography was something I was always interested in as I was growing up-I would spend hours with my globe and maps. I didn't know you could study geography in college and I was like a kid in a candy store. I decided to take an introduction to geography course with Professor Martyn Bowden, and I knew that I had found something that connected with me. The course literally changed my life. I decided at the end of my first semester that I would study geography.

I created a dual major in geography and computer science and studied geographic information systems under Professor Ron Eastman. He taught me how to look at the world spatially, how to understand data, any data-such as sales, disease, forestation/development-visually with geographic information systems. I learned more from Ron than anyone else. I was also able to build geography into an after-school job while at Clark-I worked in the Clark University Cartography Lab in the days when we made maps with pen and ink.

I loved my time at Clark. Besides meeting my wife-Ruth Lasry Steinberg '86, I learned a lot about myself and how to push myself. Even though my high school didn't have a swim team, I tried out for the Clark swim team and was on the team for my sophomore and junior years. I also developed friendships that have lasted a lifetime. Most of all, I can say that my geography studies have given me a framework in which to analyze the world around me.

The thing that I most valued at Clark was access to my professors. Since the class sizes where small, my professors were always available to help me outside of class. Sometimes we would talk about assignments, other times we would talk about life and the world around us. I learned as much, if not more, in those small, intimate conversations as I did in my classes.

My spatial analysis skills have become a key competitive advantage for me in the workplace. After Clark, I went on to business school at MIT and a career in marketing, first as a management consultant and now at the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation where I am the chief privacy officer and vice president of Database Marketing, responsible for our customer database.

I use my spatial analysis skills daily, helping to decide where to put new stores and uncover consumer patterns that are not easily identifiable with just a spreadsheet. Maps bring data to life, and it was my years at Clark that brought this side of me to life.

I have Ron Eastman and Clark University to thank. Thanks Ron; thanks, Clark.