Robert Nydick

A professor in the Management and Operations Department, Dr. Robert L. Nydick couples his passion for teaching with service.

In 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Dr. Nydick integrated a service trip within his Business Decision Making course, taking students down to the afflicted areas to assist with the recovery efforts. Such trips continued for 12 consecutive semesters spanning nearly 7 years.

“It was a ‘pay it forward’ endeavor,” Dr. Nydick noted of its inception. “Students in each class would raise money to help with the rebuilding efforts and the subsequent class would decide how to best allocate those funds.”

On two separate occasions, Dr. Nydick and his students, along with Dr. Daniel Wright, participated in Habitat for Humanity’s “Blitz Build.” Here, teams worked around the clock to finish a home, from the concrete slab to finishing touches, in 40 hours. Speaking of the experience, Nydick notes, “This was an amazing sense of accomplishment and incredible display of teamwork.”

Despite the many contributions to countless worksites, Dr. Nydick’s service and contributions to his community, and VSB, are measured by more than just his service trips. Since arriving to Villanova in 1987, Nydick has been recognized for his teaching excellence and scholarly contributions to the field of Analytics. For his contributions in the classroom, Dr. Nydick was awarded the University’s Lindback Award for Teaching Excellence and the John Tonkinson Teaching Innovation Award.

In 2014, Dr. Nydick, along with his wife Sue and sons Robert III ’06 VSB and Gregory ’09 VSB, made a transformative gift creating the Nydick Family Business Analytics Fund and naming of the Nydick Family Commons in Bartley Hall, further cementing his legacy and continued student impact. This gift helped VSB establish the Analytics Co-Major and enabled the renovation of a communal space for VSB students, faculty, and staff to gather within Bartley Hall.

“For over 35 years, Villanova has been an important part of our lives,” he said. “Decisions like this were easy for our family since we knew that we were positively impacting the lives of our students.”