ANNENBERG AND WHARTON

IN 1976 Mauricio Gerson started a new life in Philadelphia, Pa USA, as he started his Master Degree at the University of Pennsylvania. The Annenberg School of Communications was his main focus although he asked permission to take as a minor two courses at the renown Wharton School of Business. One of the courses he selected were Marketing and Finance. In particular, he wanted to take a course with Dr William Kelley as he was the author of a book Mauricio used while studying Marketing at the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City. The late Professor William T. Kelley taught Marketing at Wharton School of Business and Finance, University of Pennsylvania, for 31 years, ending with his retirement in 1982. Dr. Kelley, who also had vast experience as a business consultant, was the author of a then-widely used textbook called Marketing Intelligence — The Management of Marketing Information (originally published by P. Staples, London, 1968). Dr. Kelley taught marketing management to both undergraduate and graduate students at Wharton. At the Annenberg School of Communications, Mauricio took two courses with Dr George Gerbner, Dean of the School who was conducting a major research project which involved recording all dramas in network television primetime for several years and to develop a content analysis of all the television character that appeared during prime time in network television. Mauricio became part of the research initiative and decided to devote his Master’s thesis to sort out and do a secondary analysis of all the television characters in the study divided by ethnic groups and gender. His thesis was quoted in Dr Gerbner’s presentation to the US Congress titled: “Women and Minorities in Television Drama.”