Jeffrey Bernel
Teaching Professor
- Department
- Management & Operations
- College or School
- Mendoza College of Business
- Year of Emeritus Status 2016
Jeff Bernel is the current and founding chairman of the Healthcare Foundation of LaPorte, whose mission is “empowering our residents to live healthy and well in around LaPorte.” It is a 501(c)(3) private foundation was created on March 1, 2016, from the proceeds of the sale of LaPorte Hospital. The Foundation manages ~$200 million in assets
Jeff retired after twenty years in 2016, as a full-time teaching professor with the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and co-founder and director of Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship. He taught entrepreneurship, principles of management and strategy to undergraduate and MBA students. Jeff continues to be a part-time adjunct professor with the Management and Organization department.
He is the former chairman, CEO and president of American Rubber Products Corporation from September 1979 to August 1996. American Rubber Products Corporation was a financially struggling manufacturer and fabricator of engineered seals and gaskets for the international and North American automotive industry. Over eighteen years, the company’s turnover grew from ~$1.5 million to ~$50 million with above-average profitability. Its customers included the OEMs of GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, and first and second-tier component manufacturers for GM, Ford, Chrysler, Volvo, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, SIA, Mazda, and Mitsubishi. The company employed approximately six hundred non-union associates with divisions located in La Porte, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; Staples, Minnesota; Niles, Michigan and Morgantown, Kentucky.
Email: jbernel@gmail.com