Eric Brucker worked at the University of Delaware from 1970 to 1989 as a professor, chair of the economics department and dean of the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

In Memoriam: Eric Brucker

Article by Lerner College Staff Photos courtesy of Brucker family and UD Archives August 11, 2023

Former Lerner College dean, economics department chair and professor

Eric Brucker, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics in 1963 from the University of Delaware and served as an economics professor and dean of UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics in the 1970s and 1980s, died Friday, July 28, 2023, in Hockessin, Delaware. He was 81.

Mr. Brucker spent his professional career at six universities, including the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the University of Maine and Widener University, with his longest term of service at UD (1970-1989). While at UD, he also served as chair of the economics department.

His greatest joy was teaching. Mr. Brucker always taught a course, even when busy as a dean, and delighted in hearing from former students. He developed a course for Dean’s Scholars, a small class thinking about big issues that gathered informally, often at his home. After retirement, he continued to teach, first at UD and then at UD’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Eric Brucker

Mr. Brucker was also known for his talent for identifying a department or school’s shared vision, empowering people to build better programs. Under his leadership, two business schools earned accreditation at the national level. At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, his team supervised the construction of a new building. His team also developed a program (Partner’s Plus) to support underrepresented students from Detroit’s community colleges and encourage them to continue their education and earn bachelor’s degrees.

While at UD he enthusiastically helped create a summer reading program with discussion groups in the fall. Both faculty and staff led discussions with students — an innovation appreciated by staff who felt included and who brought different perspectives.

When participating in a Keizai Koho Center program in Japan, Mr. Brucker often encouraged program leaders to deal with their labor shortage by tapping into the “other” half of their population — the women. When introducing the first computer lab in UD’s business school, he discovered, to his delight, that the secretarial staff (mostly female) could teach the faculty (mostly male) how to use WordPerfect.

At the University of Maine, he worked with U.S. Secretary of State William Cohen to establish a Center for International Engagement. After he retired as dean at Widener University, the Pennsylvania legislature awarded Mr. Brucker a grant to survey and report on elder health and wellbeing in the state. He later shared the results of this research with the AARP.

Mr. Brucker was born in 1941 in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, to Anna Margarita Julia Schweikle and Walter Brucker. He graduated from Central Bucks High School in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics at UD and a doctorate in economics from Duke University in 1965.

Mr. Brucker met his wife, Sharon, at Duke and they discovered a mutual interest in the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and Duke basketball. They married in 1965 and shared those interests throughout their 58 year marriage — even naming one dog named Niebuhr. During their lives together, Eric and Sharon Brucker took joy and pride in their three children and six grandchildren. Together, they established homes and friends in Durham, North Carolina; Carbondale, Illinois; Newark and Hockessin, Delaware; Ewing, New Jersey; Plymouth, Michigan; Bangor, Maine; and Aston, Pennsylvania.

In his free time, Mr. Brucker was a devoted UD alumnus, a lifelong Phillies fan and an avid Duke basketball fan. He served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed building model ships and reading widely. His best friendships were developed working with colleagues at universities and sharing ideas with book discussion groups. Over his life, he developed an expansive interest in the writing and thought of Niebuhr and, later in life, the writing of current theologians Marcus Borg, Peter Gomes, Barbara Taylor Brown and Richard Rohr.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Aug. 16 at the Hockessin United Methodist Church, 7250 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, Delaware. A visitation will be held prior to the service from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Immediately following the service, a reception will be held at Cokesbury Village in Hockessin.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to: Brucker Scholarship in Economics, University of Delaware Development and Alumni Relations, 83 East Main St., Newark, DE 19716-2128 or American Kidney Fund, 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852 (Kidney-Fund.org).

To read Mr. Brucker’s obituary or leave online condolences, visit the Chandler Funeral Homes and Crematory website.