Robert B. Silber, Ph.D. is an original. Art collector, author, music critic, teacher and philosopher, intense in his respect for people and for individual thought, he has been something of an academic maverick. I first met him more than ten years ago, shortly after he retired from serving as a department head at CCNY, the college that spawned Secretary of State Colin Powell, Dr. Jonas Salk and nine Nobel Laureates. Dr. Silber is a professor emeritus at the same college. We first met when Bob was looking for marketing advice regarding a language teaching system he had created. At the time, I was managing the U.S. operation of a large international advertising agency. I was astonished at how much he knew about so many different subjects. And though he said he knew nothing about marketing, I was amazed at his insights in that regard. A couple of years after that first encounter, a very successful businessman told me, "What I learned in Bob Silber's class saved my life." I thought that was pretty strong stuff. As I have come to know a few of Bob's friends, acquaintances and other former students, I better understand and believe that student's claim.