Loyola Marymount Professor George Hess Retires at 82
After 42 years, former Loyola Marymount University’s College of Business Administration Management Professor and Associate Dean George Hess has announced the end of his lengthy career.
Though he has spent a significant part of his life working at Loyola Marymount, his path to teaching was far from linear. Hess served as a reserve officer, and might have continued to pursue a career in the Army. However, while in the Army, Hess taught management courses at Indiana, and discovered a love of teaching.
Hess also worked with General Electric and was on the fast track to an executive position, but could not shake his enthusiasm for education. Of his time teaching, Hess said, “I was like a kid in a candy store.” He eventually chose to pursue his Ph.D. in management at Arizona State University.
In 1975, Hess began working at Loyola Marymount. During his tenure there, he accomplished a wide breadth of feats, including organizing abroad trips and helping restructure the curriculum. According to Hess, the highlight of his career was teaching his strategic management course.
Hess’s students seem to enjoy taking his classes as much as he enjoys teaching them. In an anonymous review, one student raved, “I wish all teachers had the same incredible personality.”
Another student called Hess, “Honestly the greatest man alive,” and went on to remark that Hess, “Warms my heart, brings a smile to my day …”
Though Hess will end his long and rewarding teaching career this year, he has plans to continue using his skills to improve the lives of others. Throughout his career, he has devoted himself to bettering his community, and he intends to continue working to help others after his retirement. Hess has said that he hopes to help find ways reduce homelessness in Orange County in the coming years.
Hess spoke highly of his time at the university, saying, “It’s been a good trip—a pleasant and enjoyable 42 years.”
