Dr. Nicholas Gerlich is a Professor of Marketing  in the Department of Management, Marketing and General Business at WTAMU. He was pushed into marketing by his father, who convinced him he could have a better career in business than his chosen path, journalism.

He graduated from the University of Indiana, where he received his MBA and doctorate. He has a lot of passions that drive his teaching style, or what he refers to as storytelling.

“I love getting to tell the story of what I think is important,” said Gerlich. “Basically being a professor is being a storyteller. You’re taking your specialty and making it real. You get to tell the story!”

His students appreciate his teaching style and the way he is able to combine current events with historical events, bringing everything full circle.

“One of the things I really enjoy in Dr. Gerlich’s classes is how he can bring current events into the classroom and use them as teaching tools,” said Brittany Brazell, a graduate student in MBA Healthcare Management at WTAMU. “He can draw on historical facts and show how they are relevant today.”

Another one of his students echoes Brittany’s sentiments about his teaching style and how Gerlich implements it in his classes.

“You know that Dr. Gerlich has a broad base of knowledge about marketing,” said Troy Morris, a graduate MBA student at WTAMU. “He knows what is happening on a current basis.  You could ask him anything on a broad range of subjects.”

“Another great thing about his teaching style is he is your textbook for the class. You look at his lecture notes and he is able to paint a vivid picture of what lesson he is teaching for that class,” said Morris.

Fred Harvey, the great entrepreneur, is one of Gerlich’s passions. He uses Harvey’s practices as the innovator of the service industry as a teaching tool for his classes.

“I like Fred Harvey because the man was a genius,” said Gerlich. “He is credited with the first chain hotel, the first chain restaurant, and the first chain newsstand.”

Gerlich also enjoys to travel. His newest endeavor includes driving historic Route 66 and taking photos of old signs that are along the highway.

“I have a lot of passions, one of them is Route 66 and the other is old, neon signs,” said Gerlich. “Those two often overlap because there is a lot of really cool old neon signs along the route.”

Gerlich puts a new photo on Instagram six days a week from his vast collection. He admits it is just a hobby, one that he hopes one day will make a profit.

“Dr. Gerlich told us the best business to go into is one that you believe in or are passionate about,” said Brazell. “His photography on Route 66 is a perfect example. It is something that he enjoys that one day he could turn into a great business venture.”