Professor emeritus led MBA program at UT
11/17/2002PETERSBURG, Mich. - Harvey A. Maertin, Jr., a retired University of Toledo professor who directed the school's master of business administration program, died of heart failure Thursday in Flower Hospital. He was 85.
Mr. Maertin of Petersburg started teaching manufacturing administration at UT in 1960. A year later, he began directing the MBA program.
He enjoyed teaching and was friendly with many of his students. If students did not have plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas, he invited them to dinner.
“Our house was always open for students to come over,” his daughter, Ellynn Somogy, said.
He directed the MBA program for 14 years. When he retired from the university in 1977, the school named him a professor emeritus.
His professional honors included the Foundation for Economic Education Award, the American Management Association Grant, and the Economics in Action Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
He wrote numerous articles for professional journals and was co-author of a book titled Production Readings and Workbook in 1955.
He grew up in Chicago, graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago. He did postgraduate work at Northwestern University, where he was a lecturer for five years before coming to UT.
He was a registered engineer in Ohio and Illinois and belonged to the American Society of Engineers. Before he started teaching, Mr. Maertin worked for several companies, including Taylor Forge and Pipe Works in Cicero, Ill. He is listed in Who's Who in Engineering and American Men of Science.
Shortly after retiring from UT, Mr. Maertin moved to a farm in Petersburg. He liked to fish and stroll through his fruit trees, berry bushes, and vegetable gardens.
He was active at New Life Tabernacle in Petersburg. As a member of Gideons International, he conducted Bible study classes at area prisons. When he worked at UT, he sometimes spoke at the Cherry Street Mission near downtown Toledo.
Surviving are his wife, Lucille; sons, Gregory and the Rev. Harvey Maertin III; daughters, Ellynn Somogy and Gail Eck; sisters, Charlotte Castleman and Lois Irwin; 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 2 p.m. today in the Capaul Funeral Home, Ida, Mich.
The family requests tributes to New Life Tabernacle or Gideons International.