Aside from a short-lived dream of becoming an architect, Ed Rosenthal always knew academia was the perfect fit.

“I love exploring ideas and seeing what others have done and adding my own contributions to the field,” said Rosenthal, a 2008 Great Teacher awardee.

An associate professor in the Department of Management Science and Operations Management (MSOM), Rosenthal has been at Temple since 1985. A native New Yorker, he earned his B.S. in mathematics from a state school--SUNY at Albany. Then he went on to earn an M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University.

“Being from a large city and graduating from a state school gives me a natural connection with Temple students,” said Rosenthal who loves the grittiness that Philadelphia and New York share.

In recognition of the way he connects with both undergraduate and graduate students, in 2003 he was awarded the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. For the past 15 years, he is especially known for his teaching in the Fox School’s flagship executive M.B.A. program.

Rosenthal’s favorite subject to teach is supply chain management. “Even though the course is only an elective, all of the students are fantastic. It is gratifying to have such devoted students,” said Rosenthal.

To most business students MSOM is a foreign concept, or as Rosenthal explains it, “spinach.” “It’s good for them, but it takes some getting used to as part of their curricular diet,” said Rosenthal. “Part of being a good teacher is taking a step back and understanding that the information I am teaching is not easy for everyone.”

He makes the subject less intimidating by picking examples from students’ lives, such as discussing the theories in terms of inventories of beer or visits to Ikea, Olive Garden or ATMs. “This makes the subject much more exciting and tangible,” said Rosenthal. “My goal is for students to come away not only with a grasp of concepts, but also with a love of learning that will last them a lifetime.”

According to former student Aelon Porat, the approach works. “Dr. Rosenthal brought life to my MSOM business class. His passion and enthusiasm for the topic made the material easier to grasp and enjoyable,” said Porat.

John Aloysius, another of Rosenthal’s students with whom he still keeps in touch, is now a well-regarded tenured professor at the University of Arkansas. When Aloysius was a doctorate student at Temple, Rosenthal served as his doctoral dissertation committee chair.

In college, Rosenthal had his own role model. “My professor who taught existentialism was truly passionate and engaged,” said Rosenthal. “Even though it was a philosophy course that I found most inspiring, its theories of decision-making directly related to management science.”

In his more than 20 years at Fox, not only has Rosenthal been an inspiring teacher, he also has shown himself as a leader in MSOM curriculum and new course development. He introduced three MSOM courses and redesigned five others. In addition, he has served as the departmental Ph.D. program director. Currently, Rosenthal is the course coordinator for MSOM core courses.

Rosenthal’s area of specialization is game theory, which studies situations in which multiple decision-makers act in the presence of conflict and uncertainty. Much of his research focuses on problems of communication and cost allocation for individuals who benefit from cooperation with one another. His expertise in the field has allowed him to publish frequently in highly quantitative journals.

In 2005, Rosenthal published The Era of Choice: The Ability to Choose and Its Transformation of Contemporary Life, a book focused on the overwhelming amount of choices we face in today’s world, which was awarded a silver medal from ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year Award.

In addition to writing in his spare time, this father of two also loves to stay fit and travel. Every summer, Rosenthal returns to England, where he once spent six months doing research at the London School of Economics.


He considers receiving the Great Teacher Award to be the highlight of his career. “Teaching is a profession where you rarely get honored. Most of us go through an entire career without acclaim like this. I feel very fortunate to be honored this way.”

—Written by Rachel Knorr

For the Fox School of Business