Ronald Rivas joined Hillsdale College’s faculty this fall as an associate professor of management and marketing in the economics department.
This semester, Rivas is teaching two business courses: International Business, and Leadership in Teams and Organizations.
“I always look for private universities for a number of purposes,” Rivas said. “They have more degrees of freedom to pursue their own mission and vision with less government influence.”
Senior Allie Eriksen said Rivas has been her favorite professor.
“You can just tell how passionate about education and his students he is,” Eriksen said.
“His strength is through knowing the material and getting his students to engage in it,” junior Jack Sullivan said.
Born in Peru, Rivas spent his childhood traveling to Brazil and back, absorbing the different cultures and languages before attending a French Catholic high school in Peru. At age 16, Rivas began college at the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1984, then worked at a power utility company.
Rivas said his transition from engineering to business began with the social and economic turmoil in Peru during the 1980s. After a friend was involved in an incident with Shining Path, an extremist communist party, Rivas said he decided to continue his education.
“In life, you grow,” Rivas said. “Through economic, political situations in Latin America, I became aware of international issues.”
Rivas returned to his academic studies and received his Master of Arts in Operations Management from the Escuela de Administración de Negocios para Graduados in 1988, in Lima, Peru. He then traveled to the University of California, Los Angeles to obtain his doctorate in Strategic Management and International Comparative Management in 1998.
Rivas has previously held professorships at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York, Bentley College in Baltham, Massachusetts, and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
When his two children moved out, Rivas said he began to wonder what came next.
“I prayed,” Rivas said. “I wanted to know what I could do with the rest of my life. I am doing good, but maybe I could do better.”
During the spring semester of 2022, Rivas arrived on Hillsdale’s campus early before his interview date. Coincidentally, he found Eriksen and her friends sitting at a table in Saga. Eriksen said the interaction was polite and friendly, and he asked questions about campus life and their perspective of the college.
“I’m even more impressed with the students,” Rivas said. “If I bring up ideas about moral dilemmas, they readily engage.”
Rivas said he hopes to collaborate with professors, clubs, and honoraries to enhance the lives of students on campus during his time at the college.
