Geza Peter Lauter, a dedicated GW professor for 34 years and chairman of the department of international business, died March 29 of intestinal cancer after fighting for four days what was thought to be only a severe case of the flu.
Lauter fell ill at the start of the week March 25. Although he canceled his Monday and Tuesday classes, he was in the office Thursday preparing his lessons for his Saturday class on the Virginia Campus despite still feeling sick.
"The fact he was here on that Thursday is a sign of his dedication," said Kevin Stephenson, Lauter's co-worker as the administrative manager in the International Business Department. "In spite of his illness, he was here and taking responsibility of his obligations and doing things. He had a sense of duty to his job, and he was very dedicated to that."
Lauter, who first came to GW in 1968 as an assistant professor of business administration after earning his Ph.D. from the UCLA school of business management, gave a lot to his students and expected a lot in return. He always demanded high standards of academic performance and met that with his own strong dedication to his teaching and to his students, Stephenson said.
"He loved his profession, and he loved teaching," said Birhane Yigezu, who worked with Lauter as the secretary in the International Business Department for the past seven years.
"He was a gentleman and always very respectful to everyone. He was a very excellent professor, and his students liked him very much," Yigezu said.
In 1972, Lauter earned tenure with the business school, during which he taught graduate courses in business management and marketing.
Twenty years later he traveled to the Budapest University of Economics
as a senior Fulbright scholar. He traveled to Hungary to research the business privatization of Eastern European countries and to develop the curriculum for his course on "The New Global Competitive Framework" that he taught Mondays and Tuesdays with professor Scheherazade Rehman at GW.
Lauter fell ill at the start of the week March 25. Although he canceled his Monday and Tuesday classes, he was in the office Thursday preparing his lessons for his Saturday class on the Virginia Campus despite still feeling sick.
"The fact he was here on that Thursday is a sign of his dedication," said Kevin Stephenson, Lauter's co-worker as the administrative manager in the International Business Department. "In spite of his illness, he was here and taking responsibility of his obligations and doing things. He had a sense of duty to his job, and he was very dedicated to that."
Lauter, who first came to GW in 1968 as an assistant professor of business administration after earning his Ph.D. from the UCLA school of business management, gave a lot to his students and expected a lot in return. He always demanded high standards of academic performance and met that with his own strong dedication to his teaching and to his students, Stephenson said.
"He loved his profession, and he loved teaching," said Birhane Yigezu, who worked with Lauter as the secretary in the International Business Department for the past seven years.
"He was a gentleman and always very respectful to everyone. He was a very excellent professor, and his students liked him very much," Yigezu said.
In 1972, Lauter earned tenure with the business school, during which he taught graduate courses in business management and marketing.
Twenty years later he traveled to the Budapest University of Economics
as a senior Fulbright scholar. He traveled to Hungary to research the business privatization of Eastern European countries and to develop the curriculum for his course on "The New Global Competitive Framework" that he taught Mondays and Tuesdays with professor Scheherazade Rehman at GW.
