Faculty Profile
For
Nell Hartley, Ph.D., teaching isn’t just talking – it’s showing. That’s true whether she’s delivering a classroom concept or helping foreign students understand the American phenomenon of Halloween.
“If you’re going to teach organizational behavior and things like trust, leadership, and respecting diversity, then you’d better be real,” says Hartley. “The best way to teach these topics is to model them.” So every year she and her husband, Tom, a retired architect, throw a Halloween bash in their big Victorian house in Sewickley and invite RMU’s international students to help them pass out candy. Meanwhile she hides out on the porch, draped in a moose pelt and bear mask, popping out to spook trick-or-treaters.
Hartley came to RMU as a part-time instructor 30 years ago, and soon became the first female full-time professor at the School of Business. Her teaching bona fides are impressive. Her 2006 paper, “Management History: An Umbrella Model,” was one of the most widely downloaded papers on the Internet after it was published in the
Journal of Management History. An occasional corporate trainer and consultant in addition to her university work, Hartley was recently named to the board of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, an international educators association.
Both her daughter, Britt, and her son, Robert – who passed away from cancer in 2005 – studied at RMU. Hartley says she tries to treat every student she meets with kindness and care. “I truly, truly love and respect the students here,” she says. “I’ve been offered other jobs, but I’ve chosen to stay because Robert Morris over the years has allowed me to be who I want to be with my students.”
Joel Stafford '87
, a manager for a Maryland health care network, brings his family to visit with the Hartleys each year. "Her generosity is tremendous, and her desire to hear how I am doing is genuine," he says. "She is a real jewel for RMU."
WRITTEN BY MARK HOUSER
Student Profile
As a child, she may have been more comfortable in the stands, but today
Maria Mauti wants nothing less than center stage. On a trip to Cedar Point, Mauti’s godfather pushed her to go into a mock recording studio. When her recording wound up being played over the park loudspeakers, it was her first step into the limelight, fueling a passion for performing.
A car accident spoiled her plans to study dance in college. After a year at Point Park University as a musical theatre and ballet major, Mauti took the advice of her dad,
Joseph Mauti ’78, and transferred to RMU last year. She soon landed a lead role in the school production of Elton John’s remake of Aida, followed by roles in High School Musical and Godspell with the Pittsburgh Musical Theater, which is headed by RMU professor Ken Gargaro, Ph.D.
“It wasn’t until I came to RMU that I had the confidence and freedom I needed in order to truly follow my dreams,” Mauti says. “When Ken Gargaro looked at me and said, ‘You’re a star!’ I realized the potential I had here. He really became like my musical dad and gave me the experience I needed to know that anything is possible.”
Her younger brother Daniel was adopted from Cambodia, and twice Maria has gone there as a volunteer. She taught English in Phnom Penh and helped at an “AIDS village,” where families go to receive treatment for the disease together rather than being separated. Cooking, singing, and playing guitar for the children, Mauti gained a new perspective on her future dreams to manage a charity or nonprofit organization.
WRITTEN BY AUBREY DIVITO '08