Ira Gorelick, MA
Senior Manager, Business Solutions, Verizon Wireless
Teaching focus: Telecommunications Management, Information Security

Where I come from

When I got out of the Army in 1971, I lived and worked in Europe for three years. Upon my return home, I saw that communications was transforming the world. I saw the impact media had on the Vietnam War and on popular culture and sensed that communications was going to continue to play a critical role, and I wanted to be a part of it. I got a BA in Communications Studies at UCLA and an MA in Communications Management at the Annenberg School of Communications, University of Southern California in 1978.

My business experience at GTE/Verizon has been extensive and diverse. My management positions at GTE included the analysis of healthcare information systems and electronic transaction systems to identify high-potential businesses for acquisition. I designed, installed, and developed a way to use the Wireline Intelligent Network (SS7) for wireless, which the wireless industry still uses today for automatic roaming and E911. I was Director of New Products and Services before the acquisition, with responsibility for wireless business development, new intelligent network applications development, and technology planning.

After the acquisition, as Director of Fraud Prevention and Strategy for Verizon Wireless, I headed the strategic planning, development, and execution support for all fraud risk management tools, systems, processes, and policies for three years. I am now responsible for Verizon Wireless' relationships with the large resellers who private-label wireless network services for their customers.

What I teach

I bring 30 years of communications industry experience, 19 of those years in wireless communications, into the classroom. And my knowledge is current because I read widely in the technical journals and business publications. I'm a news junkie - I'm always looking for evidence of emerging trends. Technology changes rapidly and sometimes opportunity knocks softly. You have to be paying attention, or you will miss it.

I have been teaching for the Keller Graduate School of Management since 1997, both onsite and online I tend to be a "behind the scenes" type of instructor, as business people say. I facilitate the individual learner's style of mastering the material, rather than giving them the answer. I want students to test ideas rather than accept them uncritically. When I talk, I use lots of examples and imagery to help people understand workplace situations and technical concepts.

To be brutally honest

I prepare students for workplace realities by being brutally honest about my own career and perceptions. I can't tell them what to do; each of them is their own person. But I can tell them what I have done. In many ways, I feel that the key to education, including the ongoing education that life gives you, is being honest with yourself. You have to admit what you don't know and what you don't do well, in order to figure out what you need to learn; and that is not always easy.

I couldn't be happier with my career choice, and I believe it will be an equally good choice for the next generation as well. There is always something new and exciting happening in communications. There's great security in belonging to an industry that's so important to the global economy. I feel that my work contributes to the betterment of humankind-and on top of that, it is well paid.

Students on the way to success

I am very impressed with Keller students. They are intelligent, hard-working and strongly motivated to apply the knowledge that they acquire. It gives me great pleasure and pride to help them find their own path to success. For example, one young woman took my security course and found that it tapped into her core competence and interests. She moved from a job that she didn't like to one that she loved.

I can't take credit for that. Many Keller colleagues helped her - and students like her - realize her gift and make the change. As a faculty, we tend to mentor students who show promise and work hard to achieve their goals. Two or three former Keller students now work at Verizon Wireless upon my recommendation. I keep in touch with many others.

Why Keller?

Like the Annenberg School of Communications, where I received my master's degree, Keller prepares students for the future by giving them a set of skills and tools so they can assess for themselves the next stages of technology. This can't be done without having working practitioners as instructors and curriculum developers. Technology changes too fast.

The value of a Keller degree comes from a curriculum designed to provide a very accurate overview of what it takes to succeed in the career you have chosen. Keller is a premier source for career education because of the rigor of the degree program, the continuous improvement of its course offerings, and the up-to-the-minute knowledge that you will acquire.

What Keller provides is a roadmap, a way to get out ahead of where technology is going. A master's degree from Keller offers a perceptual filter for the world. It separates the signal from the noise. It allows you to identify what's relevant and exclude what's irrelevant and to thereby make sense out of the seeming chaos of marketplace reality.