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At the time, all her children were under
the age of eight. When she graduated in
1967, she was asked to join Temple's faculty
as an adjunct professor, a title she still
holds today. In the early 1970s, with the
doctorate degree and a renewed eagerness
to make a difference in the lives of women,
Gershenfeld co-founded and served as director
of the Institute of Awareness. The
Institute offered university-level programs
for women and won numerous awards. It
enrolled over 2,000 women before closing
later that decade. She also co-founded and
was president of the Couples Learning
Center in 1976. The educational, non-profit
corporation developed innovative programs
for couples and families and broadened her
consulting career.
Today many of her books, including
Contemporary Marriage Handbook (1985),
Making Groups Work, (1983) and How to Find
Love, Sex and Intimacy after 50: A Woman's
Guide, (1992), address the challenges couples
face and the changing roles of women at
work and at home. She's been a guest on TV
and radio shows including Good Morning
America, Oprah, and The Phil Donahue Show.
Today, she still writes and runs a consulting
practice from her Jenkintown office. "I've
always looked at things and said 'Why is
that happening?' I've tried to make a difference
in each problem and see what I can do
to change things."
And about that high school graduation
she missed?
"The school had actually postponed the
graduation four different times because of
weather. So, by the time they held it, most
of the kids had started their summer vacations
and didn't even go. My son understood.
He supported me."
Beyond Channel Surfing
Charles Benson, WG'96: Tuning in to the Future of Television
Charles Benson, WG'96, was an investment
banker for Salomon Smith Barney
and even worked for a period at Walt
Disney and Kraft before he tuned in to
the future of television and launched his
career at Liberty Digital. The two-year-
old new media company develops interactive
television networks, says Benson,
who focuses on strategy and business
development.
But exactly what Liberty Digital provides,
Benson, 34, says, is a bit more
complicated. "We're part VC, part business
incubator, part transaction shop."
Never one to shy away from risk, he
quit the banking industry several years
ago to move to Germany without a job.
Benson, who speaks German, dabbled in
the food products business there, but not
for long. "I returned to the States and
after Wharton, caught on to the promise
of iTV," says Benson, a native of
Bronxville, N.Y. "Similar to our parent,
Liberty Media, we are not an operating
entity, but rather a holding company
looking to leverage our assets to create
a suite of television channels."
But not your basic television channels,
he says.
Though still little known to some, the
fast-growing concept of interactive TV is
actually not new. "Interactive TV can
mean different things to different people,"
says Benson, who admits to being
a closet Type A personality who can't sit
still long enough to finish a book. "It's
really any activity where the viewer is
doing more than leaning back and just
channel surfing. In its simplest form, it
can include ordering items viewed on
the television by dialing an 800 number.
Established companies like the Home
Shopping Network and QVC have been
doing this for years."
The promise of new interactive technologies,
he says, will only enhance
existing TV commerce opportunities by
allowing the order process to take place
with a click of the TV remote control.
Interactive TV can also include viewing
movies on demand, selecting multiple
camera angles and performing web-type
functions like browsing, e-mail and chat.
"In other words, the viewer is interacting
with the medium," says Benson, who
is responsible for several cable channel
development initiatives at Liberty Digital.
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