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IN MEMORIAM
William Sonnenschein
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
UC Berkeley
1949 – 2008
William “Bill” Sonnenschein, senior lecturer on leadership and communication in the Haas School of Business Administration at the University of California, Berkeley, died suddenly on December 28, 2008, at age 59 in Madagascar. He died of heart failure following a brief gastric illness.
Sonnenschein, who lived in Oakland, was in Madagascar as a special adviser to that country's president, helping the country establish an Office of Leadership and Communication for Sustainable Development. Present when he died were his youngest daughter, Anaya, and his wife, Ericka Lutz, an author also affiliated with the Haas School as a lecturer and writing consultant.
Sonnenschein had returned to Madagascar in October for a six-month assignment, following an earlier trip in May and June. At that time, he created a nationwide leadership training program for mayors and community chiefs, wrote speeches for President Marc Ravalomanana, conducted short workshops for the president’s staff, and met with cabinet members. On this most recent trip, he planned to work on a conference that would bring together business and environmental leaders.
Sonnenschein held a B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in speech/communications, both from San Francisco State University. A lecturer at Haas since 1992, he was a pioneer in teaching leadership communication at the Haas School. “Because of Bill’s vision and commitment, a disjointed set of low-enrollment electives transformed into a core course on leadership communication that is now required of all students,” said Andrew Shogan, a former associate dean. Shogan added, “For the past six years, Bill was the only faculty member who was the instructor for every one of the 480 students who enroll annually in the Haas School’s Full-time and Evening & Weekend MBA Programs. What a wonderful legacy!”
Sonnenschein also taught business communication to undergraduate students and delivered an annual Speaking for Leadership workshop in the undergraduate program’s Business for Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (BASE) summer program. In addition, he taught courses on leadership communication and on leading and leveraging diversity for the Haas School’s Center for Executive Education.
Sonnenschein also served as a faculty adviser to the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas (YEAH), an outreach program for local middle and high school students, and as a member of the YEAH Executive Board.
Sonnenschein’s teaching extended beyond the Haas School to the College of Natural Resources, where he designed and taught the Leadership for Sustainable Development Module with the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program. Over the past five years, Sonnenschein taught environmental leaders from more than 60 countries. It was in this program that he met the student who would become President Ravalomanana’s chief-of-staff and recommend Sonnenschein for the special adviser position. “Bill will be sorely missed by all,” said Lisa Gaylord, a 2001 graduate of the College of Natural Resource’s Environmental Leadership Program and director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Madagascar. “In his short time in Madagascar, Bill left a mark that we will continue to embrace, and we will move forward on the foundation that he built here. He was an inspiration to everyone he met with his unique style of storytelling and communication.”
Over his career, Sonnenschein taught over 10,000 students at UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University, San Francisco State University, Santa Rosa Junior College, University of San Francisco, and Saint Mary’s College. He was a visiting lecturer at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia, and at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
In addition to his teaching, Sonnenschein consulted and wrote about leadership, communications, and diversity. Among his books was The Diversity Toolkit, a training tool for organizations and universities. He was an avid traveler and an active volunteer, working with such organizations as World Pulse, a web and print forum covering global issues through the eyes of women.
Before his career as a teacher, Sonnenschein was active in the civil rights movement and a leader in the Bay Area draft resistance movement. He was a key organizer for Vietnam Summer in 1967. Sonnenschein was also active in the Bay Area music scene, as a roadie for three 1960s psychedelic rock bands: Transatlantic Railroad, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother and the Holding Company (whose lead singer was Janis Joplin).
Sonnenschein was born in Alameda, California, on March 15, 1949. He is survived by his wife, Ericka Lutz; his children, Aaron, Rachel, and Anaya Sonnenschein; his sisters, Susan Sonnenschein and Sherry Alcala; his granddaughter, Cordelia Sonnenschein; his daughter-in-law, Ruthie Crossley; his niece, Morgan Alcala; his parents-in-law, Arthur and Karla Lutz; and many cousins and in-laws.
Andrew W. Shogan
Richard K. Lyons
2009