Stentor: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Dr. Dlabay: Once I realized that a career as a Major League Baseball player was not feasible, the passion of several high school teachers motivated my career path. My first business course in high school was a class for which I now write a textbook. I have been fortunate to be an author on several high school and college textbooks with more than forty domestic and international editions.
Stentor: What was your first job?
Dr. Dlabay: My first job was delivering telephone books, and then [I] worked in a meat packaging house during the summer before my senior year of high school…a very motivating experience to continue my education. In college, I worked in the accounting department of an insurance agency.
Stentor: What was your favorite book in college?
Dr. Dlabay: The Groucho Letters, a book of humorous corre- spondence by Groucho Marx, a comedian, who along with Steve Allen (a television personality) and my father, influenced my sense of humor.
Image Source: Amazon.com
In your free time, what activities do you place at top priority?
Dr. Dlabay: I serve in community service programs, includ- ing a youth ministry at a church in Waukegan and [I] conduct a church service at a senior home in Lindenhurst. I also serve on the boards of two in- ternational development organizations that work in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. I spend a lot of time learning about business development and microfinance in poverty-stricken areas in an effort to integrate these techniques into my teaching and to guide the organizations for which I’m a board member.
Stentor: What is your most memorable class period or course that you have taught at Lake Forest College and why?
Dr. Dlabay: Of the more than twenty-five courses, independent studies, and tutorials I have taught at Lake Forest College, my favorite is “Capital Budgeting” because it offers a blend of economics, finance, accounting, global business, and management concepts. In addition, students participate in an array of learning experiences, including a team video project, a global company capital project proposal, and a non-profit organization analysis.
Image Source: Daily Herald Business Ledger
Stentor: If someone were to write a biography about you, how would you describe your journey from undergraduate school to Lake Forest College to them?
Dr. Dlabay: Upon completing high school, college was a completely foreign concept since only one of my parents completed high school. After attending community college, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in accounting, followed by obtaining a high school teacher certification and an M.B.A. As I became more proficient in my academic pur- suits, my aspirations grew and I completed a Doc- toral Program in business and education. After nine years of highs school teaching and two years at Illinois State University, I have been at Lake Forest since 1983.
Stentor: What advice do you have for current undergraduate students?
Dr. Dlabay: I encourage students to take a V-I-P approach to their learning and other activities…to obtain ver- satility (related to academic interests and their ca- reer skillset), to take initiative in academics and other settings, and to have passion and persever- ance in their pursuit of excellence. I also encour- age students to realize that what may seem like an interruption in their life is often an opportunity for new learning.
Lake Forest College is always committed to show the best of the best. When it comes to athletics, academics, student life, and every other organization on campus, Foresters show the best of themselves, and faculty is not exempt from this rule. In this issue, we show you the journey of Dr. Dlabay, Professor of Economics and Business.
Interview conducted by Camille Lemieux ’17, Managing Editor
