![\"Left](\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Faculty_Retirement_07_May_2025-43-1024x683.jpg\")
Dean of the School of Business David Jordan recalled first meeting O\u2019Brien in 2009. \u201cI knew I could learn a great deal from him. About sustainability, scholarship, and about what it takes to be a stand-up man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Brien came to Clark with an impressive background in business and entrepreneurship, including emerging technologies. He brought a global and green perspective to the School of Business, playing an integral role in grounding the business curriculum in the principles of environmental sustainability and social responsibility \u2014 always with the caution that corporate allegiance must never supersede our human obligation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe brought passion and compassion,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cWe will miss him immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his remarks, Ravi Sharma, chair of the Department of Philosophy, read testimonials from two of Derr\u2019s former students, who described a teacher who urged his students to grapple with some of the thorniest issues involving ethics, equity, environment, medicine, and the AIDS and COVID pandemics. One student described him as \u201cpossibly the greatest professor I have, or ever will have.\u201d Another wrote of the formidable nature of Derr\u2019s courses that examined biomedical and public health issues, including one that required the reading of a 600-page book before the class had even started \u2014 but the class \u201cmade me more concise and confident.\u201d Derr\u2019s Environmental Ethics course \u201cfundamentally challenged, shaped, and grew my thinking,\u201d the student added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Junfu Zhang, chair of the Economics Department, lauded Gray as a dedicated mentor and accomplished scholar whose dealings with people were \u201cgenerous and selfless.\u201d Gray was the subject of a recent symposium honoring his career as teacher and scholar that was attended by economics colleagues from across academia as well as former students who have gone on to impressive careers in their own right. At the symposium, some astounding numbers were shared, including the fact that over his 41-year Clark career, it\u2019s estimated Gray helped guide 85 percent of the economics Ph.D. students\u2019 most significant bodies of work. The day\u2019s participants spoke of his enduring impact on the lives of those who learned from him and collaborated with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWayne\u2019s example reminds us of the best we can be,\u201d Zhang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dean of the College Laurie Ross, who earned bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees at Clark, noted that she had both Gray and Derr as professors during her sophomore year. Gray, she said, showed patience and passion in the classroom. Derr, particularly in his Medical Ethics class, was \u201cdemanding and provocative.\u201d She said that during her time as a faculty member with the Department of Sustainability and Social Justice, O\u2019Brien was a valuable ally in her community engagement work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jacqueline Geoghegan, professor of economics, recalled that she urged her daughter to take a class taught by Derr \u201cbecause he will teach you to think and write.\u201d Doug Little, professor emeritus of history, lauded Derr and Gray for their involvement with faculty governance; and University Librarian Laura Robertson noted the support all three honorees showed for the Goddard Library and its services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Retiring professors Patrick Derr (philosophy, 49 years), Wayne Gray (economics, 41 years), and Will O\u2019Brien (School of Business, 16 years) were feted by their colleagues at a reception May 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21185,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-deep-red)","story_headerImg":21185,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[225,223,245],"displayed_author":[235],"featured":[494],"topic":[164,150,307,153],"class_list":["post-21184","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","category-clark-community","category-social-sciences","displayed_author-jim-keogh","featured-secondary","topic-economics","topic-faculty","topic-philosophy","topic-school-of-business"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Faculty_Retirement_07_May_2025-65-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Faculty_Retirement_07_May_2025-74-1024x683.jpg\")