ABSEL Reflections: 40 Years Of Excellence, Now Going Forward

Abstract

Reflecting on forty years of ABSEL’s existence, this paper is a collection of personalized reflections and observations. The paper looks back over the last forty years, but also looks ahead to see where ABSEL might go the next forty years. Contrasts between ABSEL “then, now and into the future” are made relative to faculty, administration, students, ABSEL scholarship and the vicissitudes of the environment surrounding ABSEL. The paper concludes with a celebration of “the ABSEL Style” as the factor that not only separated us from the rest of the pack at ABSEL’s inception, but also gives us a competitive advantage going forward into the next 40 years.