Bob Anders
By Jordan Beach
Professors who have real-world experience in the fields they are teaching can impart knowledge and develop skillsets in students that a textbook cannot. For the last 17 years, adjunct professor Bob Anders has been one of those professionals, sharing his expertise in economics with McCamish School of Business & Sport Studies students.
Anders’ favorite part of teaching, he said, is the ability to teach a diverse student body.
“Many years of teaching have enabled me to see that Reinhardt students are at the top of the class,” said Anders. “I learn more from students than they do from me by far.”
Anders does not want to describe himself as academic when teaching, rather he wants his 32 years as southeast director for Sears Credit Card services to infuse his curriculum with real-world experiences. With his experience in customer service, he teaches students people skills.
“If you think it through, a business degree equips you for any real-world experience. I want my students to have fun learning,” Anders said.
Business instructor Cindy Moss has worked with Anders for more than eight years and describes him as “the ultimate business professional.”
“He cares for his students and goes out of his way to meet with them and helps them in any way possible to succeed in his classes,” said Moss.
Provost Mark Roberts believes Reinhardt is blessed with its “highly qualified and deeply experienced part-time faculty members who are an important part of our learning community.”
“We are blessed even more abundantly because a great many of our part-time professors are long-service employees, such as Bob Anders, who has been in Reinhardt classrooms for nearly two decades,” Roberts said. “Such commitment is uncommon; but it is exactly that level of engagement that benefits Reinhardt’s students.”
Anders appreciates receiving notes, emails and phone calls from former students, thanking him for taking the time to be a teacher and friend to them, and helping them along their way to professional life.
“I have read letters his former students have written him after graduation and they all express how much his classes have helped prepare them for the world of business,” said Moss.
The business adjunct loves football, especially at Reinhardt. He spent nearly 30 years as an NCAA and high school referee, and notes Reinhardt as his “present hobby.”
Regardless of the time he has committed, Anders remains humble.
“I don’t know if I have made any impact on Reinhardt; however, Reinhardt has definitely made an impact on me.”
