Great Teacher Stories:
George Clark
John Keros
Gerry Kruse
For a list of all former and current accouting teachers click below:
Gerry Kruse
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Mark Baydarian BBA -ACC '77, VP Finance/Controller, Leviton Manufacturing Co., Queens NY
Well, I really have quite a few stories about Ms. Kruse. She is quite a lady. I received two C's in college: one was when I was a freshman and had an 8:00 am five credit French class (what was I thinking about?) and the other was from Gerry in advanced accounting. I won't go into the circumstances, but let's just say she was a tough professor. Although, she was tough she always will have a place in my heart. She was sincere, honest, caring and always had a beautiful mischievous smile. I do think of her often because it really was because of her that I went into accounting. (I am still trying to decide if this was a good thing.) There are a handful of teachers who make a difference in your life and she was one of those for me.
So the real story on the Advanced Accounting C was that Gerry had the students write a paper on business consolidations. When she handed out the assignment, she emphasized that the paper was due at the BEGINNING of class and not a minute later. Well, I figured the end of class was close enough so I furiously typed through the class, got the paper completed, ran to the lecture hall and gave the paper to Prof Kruse. She said sorry you get a zero. I said mark it down one grade, she said no, two grades, she said no..so I got a zero and it was 1/3 of my grade... So the rest of the story is: professionally, I have done a lot of work in business consolidation reporting and I really did apply what I learned from that paper. It was actually a great assignment, but meant nothing to me at the time..business consolidations, what is that? . I am sorry I can't make the event, but please pass on my congratulations to Gerry. 10-17-04------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth R. Madis BBA-ACC '80 - CPA Marysville, MI
Mrs. Kruse deserves to be honored. She is the best teacher I ever had. 10-28-04
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Susan Kattelus, MSA'79, still at Eastern Michigan University
As a lecturer in the department in 1979-80 and 1982-1985, I was on the teaching staff with Gerry and considered myself to be her student, although I never had her as an instructor in a class. I had a lot to learn, but Gerry was generous with advice and outspoken in sharing what she considered to be good (and not good!) teaching strategies. She was the single most influence on me leaving EMU to go to Michigan State to pursue a Ph.D. in 1985. She talked with me many times as I made a tough decision to leave my job and talk my family into relocating to MSU-area for what would be five and a half years. She simply said that since she always knew she wanted to teach at the college level, and, if it took a Ph.D. at that time to do so, she would have gotten one. So she didn't tell me what to do, just laid out a clear way of thinking about how you reach a goal. The most valuable lesson I am still learning in watching Gerry with students is that she has a genuine, life-long interest in them - and they know that. That's a characteristic of a Great Teacher. 10-31-04
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Lynne Hendrix, CPA, BBA Acc'78, Professor of Accounting, Hope College, Holland, MI., 1983-Current.
Twenty-five plus years ago I was a non-traditional student and mother of two trying to finish my accounting degree while commuting daily from Toledo. I remember reaching a point where I just wanted very much to quit school. The breaking point was the day I received my first C on an exam. I had nearly a 4.00 GPA going except for a lower grade in a PE class and I was in my final year of school.
As you have probably already guessed, the C was in an Advanced Accounting exam in Professor Kruse's class. Is seems that Gerry believed I had completely missed the point of the essay question, i.e., not discussing "SUBSTANCE OVER FORM." Goodness, she was tuff. Professor Kruse actually expected her students to understand key issues and be able to apply them in new and unrehearsed situations rather than just to memorize standards. I guess you might say she was a woman ahead of her time. I had slid by soooo easily before that day in Advanced Accounting.
On one side, Professor Kruse was hard as nails, but, as most of you learned, she was the most caring and devoted teacher we ever had. Professor Kruse refused to sign the drop slip I handed her that week. She made it clear you don't learn anything from quitting. Over the years she wiped away her share of tears, gave spontaneous hugs, and was our biggest cheerleader when we finally saw the big picture - when we saw the forest instead of just the trees, as she would say.
I not only went on to finish the class (squeaked by with a B) and graduate, but also, after a five-year stint with KPMG, decided I wanted to teach at the college level. I learned from Geraldine what a huge difference one caring teacher could make in the lives of her students. I've been at it for 21 years now. Remember the movie "Pay It Forward"? If you think it is difficult to calculate the value of derivatives, try calculating the intangible value of the affect this one teacher has had in setting high standards and in being a sincere and caring person, and the future cumulative affect she has had as each of her students has "paid it forward", in our own way.
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Kimberly Laughton MSA'00 Denkhaus & Langwerowski, CPA's Brighton MI
I will be attending the event but I wanted to share that I went into accounting because of Professor
Kruse. I took accounting at U-M in my undergrad days and got a C because the professor was terrible and so
incredibly boring. Then I took Accounting 500 or something with Professor Kruse and she told me I
should talk to Sharifi about changing to the MSA program and I did, got my CPA, etc. so I feel
indebted to her for believing in me! In addition, she helped me when I worked for the Ypsilanti Public
Library after she retired and I worked in their accounting department. She was a great help and made
me figure out stuff for myself instead of just giving me the information! Thanks for roasting her - she is
great! 11-03-04
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JoHanna Thomas (prev. Knight, prev. Bailey)
Prof. Kruse was by far my favorite professor at Eastern. I still appreciate her candid presentation of the material and tough as nails attitude. The first time I signed up for her class, I remember worrying that my grade point would suffer, like it did for a few of my friends who had her class before me. However, the understanding of accounting, ethics and real life I gained from being in her class FAR outweighed any silly concern over a grade point. I was very proud of the grade I worked for and received from Prof. Kruse. After my first class with her, I signed up for everything else she taught. Thank you, Professor! Your lessons are still invaluable. I hope you are enjoying your retirement. 11/22/04
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Kristi Fitzgerald (Alt), CPA, BBA - ACC 1992, MBA (graduation June, 2004) -
Oakland Community College
I still remember the first day I met Geraldine. I had her for ACC240 - honors. My initial impression was "this lady terrifies me!" I think the fact that she stomped around the room and tossed syllabi at students was the reason for this terror. As the semester progressed, I realized my initial impression was correct, however, the terror began to take on a new form. Her exams were like nothing I had ever seen. Luckily, I completed the class without any problems (other than Gerry locking the door on me because I always tried to catch the last moments of my soap opera and make it to Pray-Harrold before class began). After this experience, I felt that I was done with accounting, I wanted to be an actuary. But Gerry had other plans for me. She took me by the arm one day when I stopped by her office to say hi and marched me down the hall to talk to John Keros. Ultimately, I signed up for another class.
Geraldine also encouraged me to try for a public accounting internship. I vividly remember the fashion queen telling me "You will have to buy yourself some suits if you get a job." I was happy to oblige and to have a wonderful wardrobe and internship experience because of her guidance.
She has been with me over the years and our friendship has grown with every up and down, every child, every opportunity where she still pushes me. She often tells me how resilient children are and how her oldest son survived having a crib mattress tied over the top of his crib to stop him from crawling out (I think she was trying to make me feel better about something, and I don't know that this story helped much). She is my professor, my mentor, my surrogate mother, my girlfriend. I will always be grateful for the day Geraldine Kruse came into my life.