Interview with Jeffrey Anderson

Tell us a little about yourself: where are you from and why are you here this week in Pécs?

I am Jeffrey Anderson, I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but I lived in Ohio for the last (almost) 40 years. I teach Management courses in Ohio at the University. I’m here this week as a guest lecture. I’ve lectured in two classes: International Business class and Entrepreneurial Consulting class.

I’ve heard it’s not your first time here. How many times have you been here? When was the first and the last time you visited Pécs? Why do you like it so much?

Yes, I’ve been to Pécs 6 times actually. First, I came here in 2015 as a visiting scholar and then, I’ve spent nearly a month here. During that time, I’ve guest lectured classes and participated in workshop so I had a very nice experience. Then, the following year I was selected to come tot he Faculty’s Summer Programme (in 2016). So after that, I came here every summer until 2019 to work on this Summer Programme in coorporation with the Simonyi Center and I’ve worked with Zsolt Bedő and with Hungarian and international students, along with Ohio-students. It’s been a very rewarding experience, this Summer Programme has an emphasis on social entrepreneurship. For me, and also for the students it’s very fulfilling coming to Hungary, to Pécs. Unfortunatelly I couldn’t come to Pécs in the past few summers but I’m looking forward to next summer’s programme.

I always tell my collagues that I’m tipically in Pécs for 3 weeks and I spend 49 weeks a year thinking about being in Pécs. There’s many reasons why I enjoy coming here. First of all, it’s the people: they always so nice to me. Beyond that, it’s such a beautiful city. Every time I walk out to Széchenyi tér and think about how grateful I am that my work allows me to come to such a beautiful place.

So you definitely had the chance to explore Pécs. Do you have a favourite spot?

I love going to Széchenyi tér and every time I’m there I am still amazed about the beauty there. One of my favourite things to do is to hike tot he TV Tower. It’s a long hike but it’s worth the view. Another great spot is Tettye with its ruins or I like the Niké statue also.

Why do you think this partnership is so important and what is its strenght in your opinion?

We are really proud of this partnership. One of the strenghts is that so many students come to Pécs from Ohio University for the Summer Programmes. People in the United States don’t always have a strong impression about how is life in Hungary so they come with no (or unclear) expectations and it’s been so rewarding to me that when I bring students here they fall in love with the city and with the university – just as I did. They don’t know what’s going to happen but they leave telling me that this was the best choice they made – and I’m happy that I can share this experience. So speaking to myself, that is the most valuable part of the relationship.

But of course we re-established some connections in the last few years and we had two research conferences in the past few years and have another conference coming. It is great that we can coorporate, exchange ideas and work together.

What courses do you teach in Ohio?

In Ohio I teach Introduction to Management course: it’s a survey course for management principals. And I also teach Introduction to Business course. It’s for firs-year students, it’s their first real exposure to business courses in collage. They’re in big classes so it’s challenging but also rewarding.

And my research are is the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Only that I am so thankful to be here. I enjoy living in Ohio but if I had to pick another place to live, it definitely would be Pécs.