Richard Ockerbloom, DMSB'52
On his decision to attend Northeastern:
"I attended a guidance program that the high school had put on, and a member of the Northeastern faculty talked to all of us and expressed how the university operates, the academic excellence at that time, and even more importantly, if you got into the co-op program--which was the signature part of Northeastern--you could almost pay your own way to go to college."
On why he decided to study business:
"In high school, I worked for the local newspaper. I got to know advertising and how you market the page. When I came to Northeastern and was allowed to pick a major, I really liked advertising, and that's where I ended up."
On his co-ops at The Boston Globe:
"The Globe was selected by my co-op administrator at that time, and I kind of liked the idea because I had been involved with the local paper, so I started at The Globe and that was September of 1948. I've been told here at Northeastern that I probably had the longest co-op job in the history of the university because I retired from The Globe 45 years later."
"I started as a clerk, which was an entry-level job. Then, after I graduated, I was offered a position at The Globe, and from there it was a journey that took me through the advertising and business departments, the editorial and management area. When I retired in 1993, I was the vice chairman of The Globe and had been the president for the last 10 years. It was an interesting co-op from beginning to end."
On the dramatic change at Northeastern throughout the years:"
"It was one of the largest universities in the country. At one point we had something like 35,000 students. That was okay up to a point. During the time I was involved with the trustees group--which I had been invited to join many years ago--Jack Curry, who was the president at that time, talked with all of us together, and we decided that Northeastern really should be smaller, but better.
"In so doing, they hired a wonderful group of faculty, as they still do today with Dr. Aoun, and it just dramatically changed."
On what inspired him to become an alumni leader:
"Well, it didn't happen right away because I was just out of school, was in the service for two years, and just getting started personally as well as with my business career. I was asked by the then-chairman of the board if I would consider being on the Board of Trustees. I started on the board as a corporator, then after several years, they asked me if I wanted to become a trustee. The whole reasoning from my point of view--and I think you hear this from so many of our alums--that you want to give back what you can, and for what you have recieved as a student, and the value you put on that. You want to do everything possible to make the university the finest in the area, and actually right now, the world."
On the naming of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business:
"Do you really want to know? I was shocked.
"It just gives you a wonderful feeling the university is just on a roll, and we need to keep it on a roll."
On establishing the Ockerbloom Family Foundation with his wife, Anne:
"It all came down to my experience here at Northeastern, the regard that I had for the university, what it had done for me.
"My wife and I just felt that in terms of giving, Northeatern was the right fit. We wanted to be a part of that and help in whatever way we could."
Biography
It was September 1948 when Dick Ockerbloom, DMSB'52, then a Northeastern business student majoring in marketing, stepped through the front door of The Boston Globe on his first day of co-op. He would come to know that building very well during the next 45 years, on what he jokes was “probably the longest co-op job in the history of the university.”
After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 1952, Dick accepted an invitation to return to The Globe—this time as a permanent employee. Throughout the years, he held numerous positions at the company including salesman and advertising director, ultimately rising to the executive post of president. He retired as vice chairman in 1993.