Richard C. Ockerbloom, BA'52, H'95
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.
Always thankful to his alma mater for launching his lengthy and successful career, Dick became actively involved as a means of giving back. He was elected to the Northeastern Corporation, the university’s governing board, in 1986, and he was elevated to the Board of Trustees in 1990. Dick was voted to the position of vice chairman in 1998 and during his tenure, he served on many board committees including the Executive Committee, the Academic Affairs Committee, the Development Committee, and as vice chair of the Governance Committee from 2001-2002. In recognition of his exemplary leadership, Northeastern awarded Dick an honorary doctor of laws in 1995, and he was elected vice chairman emeritus of the board in 2005.
Dick and his wife, Anne, have invested generously in Northeastern and its students by establishing the Richard C. and Anne Ockerbloom Scholarship in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. Through this endowed support, they are building a lasting legacy at the university by empowering talented students to fulfill their academic potential.
Dick and Anne are members of Northeastern’s Huntington Society, and he has served in a wide range of public service positions throughout greater Boston. Notably, he is a trustee of the Cummings Foundation and is an honorary director of the Griffin Museum of Photography.
The Ockberblooms have six children and many grandchildren, two of whom are also Huskies: Son, John Ockerbloom, L’92, received his juris doctor from Northeastern’s School of Law; and granddaughter, Christine, is set to graduate in 2013 from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. Their son, Mark Ockerbloom, has built upon his father’s legacy in the news industry—he is a popular anchor for Boston’s FOX 25 News.
Dick and Anne reside in Massachusetts and Florida.