Elizabeth Ahn Toupin is a former student of Peter Drucker. She met him during her studies at Bennington College. In this interview she reminisces about her time at Bennington and gives an account of Peter Drucker from a student’s perspective. She begins by discussing Drucker’s reputation as a challenging professor. She states that, “those who survived his course felt ordained.” She describes Drucker’s years at Bennington as the “Golden Years” and explains how during this time Bennington welcomed several intellectual refugees from Europe onto their staff. She goes on to discuss her research on labor in Hawaii and Drucker’s guidance with both her research and writing. Towards the middle of the interview, she tells a story of the only student Drucker ever flunked, whom he told, “I flunked you not because you slept throughout my class, but because you snored and interrupted my lecture.” In the second half of the interview, she describes Drucker’s constant curiosity and his inquisitive approach to life. She goes on to tell of Drucker’s love for detective stories. Toupin ends the interview with some of her favorite Drucker sayings including, “If anyone says it’s obvious then it is not obvious.”
Drucker, Peter F. (Peter Ferdinand), 1909-2005 Interviews Bennington College Bennington College - Faculty Bennington College - Students Labor unions Hawaii Detective and mystery stories
Source
Original videotape: Excerpt from two 30 minute VHS Tapes; Tapes 80-81: Peter F. Drucker Biography 09/12/2002
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