It’s a safe bet that Al Erisman is the only Northern Star editor who ever went on to earn a Ph.D. in applied mathematics.

Al had been sports editor of his Oak Park High School paper, and came to NIU as a math major with minors in journalism and physical education. He joined the Northern Star sports staff as a sophomore, working for editor Jim Price. He later would serve as sports editor and then editor.

“The people on the newspaper were a lot more fun to hang out with than the people in math,” he joked.

When Al was editor in 1961-62, that group included one person in particular: the associate editor, Nancy Schuler. They’ll celebrate their 47th anniversary this summer.

“The qualities I remember most about Al were his ability to remain calm during any crisis and his quickness to smile,” said classmate and longtime friend Chuck Shriver, ’62. “Although soft-spoken, his management style was firm but positive. And I always marveled as well at Nancy’s same ability to exhibit a calm demeanor at all times.”

Al was a year ahead of Nancy in school, and they married after he graduated but before her senior year, so for two years after graduation he found jobs nearby, teaching eighth grade in the Kaneland school district and working with Nancy at the Elburn Herald in the summer. At school, several bright eighth-graders would ask Al challenging questions about mathematics, and helped renew his interest in the discipline. (Footnote: One of those bright Kaneland students is now a professor of engineering at Ohio State University.) His interest was so piqued, in fact, that after two years of teaching he enrolled at Iowa State University, where he earned his master’s and Ph.D.

That led to a 32-year career with The Boeing Company. Al wound up as Director of Research and Development for computing and mathematics, managing 250 to 300 scientists, mathematicians, statisticians and engineers.

Today, as Director of the Institute for Business, Technology and Ethics and Executive in Residence at Seattle Pacific University (where he teaches three classes per year in business ethics and technology), Al travels the world speaking to business leaders about ethics, values and purpose. Most recently he’s spoken in Ukraine, Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Central African Republic, Austria and China, and he is developing a micro finance program in the Central African Republic.

He’s also the editor of Ethix magazine, a role that brings special satisfaction because he and Nancy work on it together … much like their days at the Star.

They often travel together on business trips and have no plans to slow down. “As long as my health is OK, there’s really no reason to retire,” he said. Al and Nancy have four children and eight grandchildren.