F&M Stories
Socrates Citation In Honor of Jeffrey Nesteruk
Professor of Legal Studies Jeffrey Nesteruk would like to be remembered as someone who crossed boundaries, engaged colleagues, and thought anew about the value of liberal education. He is most proud of his work in helping to transform the business department from a traditional business administration program to one that is more broadly focused, cross-disciplinary, and committed to the liberal arts.
Students characterized Professor Nesteruk as “the best,” “awesome,” “very respectful,” and a “great moderator.” He is known for facilitating engaging class discussions and encouraging a wide variety of viewpoints about the cases under discussion. Students push each other (in a positive way) to understand the arguments surrounding legal issues.
Colleagues remember their deep conversations with Professor Nesteruk about learning and the liberal arts, about business and the law, about his willingness to embrace new pedagogical tools, such as digital storytelling and digital narratives, and for his love of diners and the Beatles.
Professor Nesteruk served as director for the Center for Liberal Arts and Society
(CLAS), which focused on connecting the liberal arts to the broader world in which
we live. He served as the Business, Organizations & Society department chair, hiring six new tenure-track faculty members over his three-
year term. Most recently, he acted as deputy provost for New Academic Initiatives,
developing for campus the three-day event, “The Liberal Arts and the Future of Work,”
and the popular Legal Studies Certificate.
Professor Nesteruk was the recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2017, a six-figure, four-year Teagle Foundation Grant (with Wharton and Bucknell), and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. He was a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, a Dorsett Fellow at the Ethics Institute at Dartmouth College, and a Zicklin Research Fellow at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
After his time at F&M, Professor Nesteruk will continue consulting with colleges and universities aiming for a flourishing future for liberal education. He plans to write a book, “Seeking My Better Self,” about how to bring our better angels into our daily lives. In the main, though, he plans to minor in work and major in life: long breakfasts over coffee, five-mile walks every day with his wife, valuing and investing in his friendships and family, and spending a fair amount of time staring into space and seeing where his thoughts might lead.
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