News Release
November 2005
Bethlehem, Pa., November 14, 2005—Jeff Gernsheimer ’68 will
present the inaugural lecture of Rose and Rudy Ackerman Lecture Series at Moravian College
on Wednesday, November 16 at 7:00 p. m. in Peter Hall. Gernsheimer, founder and creative
director of Partners Design, is one of the first art majors to graduate during Dr. Rudy
Ackerman’s
tenure as director of the Moravian College Art Department.
The lecture is the first of The Rose and Rudy Ackerman Visiting Lecture Series. It is
funded by an endowment created by the Ackermans to foster the arts. Visiting artists
shall be invited to present lectures at the college by the chair of the Art Department
after consultation with the art faculty.
Since graduating from Moravian, Gernsheimer has worked at BMA Associates in New York
City and at Hershey Foods Corporation. In 1971, he and his twin brother Jack founded
Partners Design. His artwork and that of his firm are utilized in prominent graphic design
publications such as Communication Arts, Graphis, and Novum. He also has taught courses
at Kutztown University expounding on corporate identity and packaging design. As an active
Moravian College alumnus, Gernsheimer has given back to the school by serving as mentor
for the annual Career Advisory Open Houses and as a guest graphic design critic.
Rudy Ackerman is professor emeritus of the Moravian College art
department where he taught for 37 years before stepping down in 2000. Throughout his
career at Moravian, he was instrumental in obtaining various public and private grants
to benefit the art department. Ackerman’s works in sculpture and paintings are on display at the Bethlehem
Civic Center Sculpture Garden, Lehigh and Penn State Universities, Moravian College,
and in private collections. He was featured in Who’s Who of American Art and has
conducted research for the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to teaching at Moravian,
Ackerman is the executive director of the Baum School of Art and is active in community
art events. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Kutztown State College (now Kutztown
University), a Master of Arts degree from Temple University, and Doctor of Education
degree from Penn State University.
Rudy and his wife Rose, who is director of operations and special
events at the Baum School, were honored with the Allentown Arts Commission’s
Overall Arts Ovation Award in 2004. The award recognized five decades of their unwavering
commitment to teaching art, especially to disadvantaged children; transforming the
Baum School of Art from an educational center into an arts incubator; and improving
the academics, business, and architectural landscape of Allentown.
Peter Hall is located on the Priscilla Payne Hurd Campus, at the corner of Main and
Church Streets in Bethlehem. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information,
call 610-861-1680.
Moravian College is a private, coeducational, selective liberal arts college located
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its founding to 1742, it is recognized as America's
sixth-oldest college. Visit the web site at www.moravian.edu.
