William V. “Bill” Gehrlein, professor emeritus of operations management in the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, passed away on July 17, 2026. He retired from the University in 2013 after a distinguished career dedicated to teaching, research and mentoring students.
An accomplished scholar, Gehrlein’s research spanned operations management, social choice theory, statistics and mathematics. He authored seven books and more than 125 scholarly publications during his career. His academic work and teaching also took him around the world, including to Bulgaria, Bosnia, Switzerland and France, and he served as a statistical consultant for DuPont.
A longtime colleague and friend
Ernie Saniga, a retired UD operations management faculty member, knew Gehrlein for more than five decades. Their friendship began in 1972, when they were doctoral students at Penn State and shared a cubicle while studying in the same field.
Saniga joined UD in 1977 and later helped recruit Gehrlein to the University. The two went on to collaborate on numerous research papers over the years.
“Bill was a great resource for me when I had a problem in discrete probability theory,” Saniga said. “He was very strong mathematically and as a code writer. Add to that his creativity and work ethic, and you get an outstanding scholar. That was Bill.”
But their collaborations weren’t all work.
“He had a great sense of humor, making him a joy to be around,” Saniga said. “Even when working on difficult mathematical problems, we spent much of our time laughing. I will miss him.”
A distinctive approach to teaching
Gehrlein brought that same individuality to the classroom, where colleagues remember an educator who preferred engaging students in problems and discussion rather than relying on conventional lectures.
“My memory of Bill is that he wore a flannel every single day, and he had a strong distaste for PowerPoint,” said Adam Fleischhacker, associate professor of operations management. “He once told me lecturing every day was too boring, so instead he wrote his own Operations Management textbook consisting of short, instructive cases that could fuel a single class period.”
Gehrlein’s case-based approach encouraged students to engage with problems, think critically and apply what they were learning rather than simply listen to a lecture. It was characteristic of an educator who brought the same creativity to teaching that he did to his scholarship.
Outside of academia, Gehrlein was an accomplished runner, avid fisherman, traveler, genealogist and outdoorsman. Following his retirement, he and his wife, Barbara Eller, spent summers at the log cabin he built by hand in the woods of Maine, where they welcomed family and enjoyed the outdoors.
“Bill will be missed by me and the many people he impacted across the world,” Eller said.
The Lerner College community extends its condolences to Eller, Gehrlein’s family, friends, former students and colleagues. His legacy lives on through his scholarship, the generations of students he taught and the colleagues and friends who remember his intellectual curiosity, creativity, humor and commitment to his work.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Bill’s memory to Delaware Hospice, 100 Patriots Way, Milford, DE 19963, or online at https://delawarehospice.org/give/.