Gerald (Jerry) Eyrich P’83, CMC Emeritus Associate Professor of Economics, died on September 20, 2025, at age 95.
Eyrich joined CMC in the late 1960s, and in September 2017, the community celebrated his 50 years of service. He was the beloved coach of the Claremont Men’s Lacrosse Club, leading them to countless victories and inspiring generations of student-athletes, wrote Heather Antecol P’29, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and James G. Boswell Professor of Economics, in a recent message to the CMC community.
“Jerry’s life was marked by his dedication to students, his love of sport, and his generosity of spirit. He will be deeply missed by the CMC community, former players, colleagues, friends, and the long list of alumni who proudly call themselves fans of Coach Eyrich,” Antecol said. “I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and to the entire CMC community.”
In addition to coaching, Eyrich was a devoted member of the Economics faculty. In 1997, he was honored with the Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching, recognizing his exceptional impact on CMC students.
Jonathan Rosenberg ’83 was one such student, a self-proclaimed “arrogant 18-year-old kid who had the good fortune to run into tough-loving professors like Jerry Eyrich.”
Attempting to breeze through Eyrich’s “Theory of a Firm” as a sophomore, doing as little as possible and confident he’d get away with it, everything changed when Eyrich “outed me by asking me to explain, intuitively, ‘why the simplex algorithm always yielded a solution at one of the corners of the feasible region.’” A “lame answer” was all he could muster in the moment, but Rosenberg would never be the same again.
“Many Hollywood scripts have that didactic moment where the drill sergeant finally breaks his or her new recruit. Where the coach extracts the last full measure of devotion from a player who then comes through in a game. Or when a professor gets an otherwise lazy student to love what he’s learning and enjoy the hard work. For me, that professor was Jerry Eryich in ‘Theory of the Firm,’” said Rosenberg. “I went on to take every class I could with him, and while he wrote my recommendation to the University of Chicago, his real gift was refusing to let me coast.
“He was a great professor who made me a better person. CMC has lost a giant, and I have lost a mentor who changed my life.”
Eyrich was a proud Honorary Member of the Claremont McKenna College Alumni Association and the recipient of the John Faranda ’79 Student Service Award, reflecting the deep admiration of alumni whose lives he shaped. His legacy is honored permanently in the Eyrich Athletic Department Lobby, supported by many grateful alumni and a testament to his love of CMS Athletics, added Erica Jasper, William B. Arce Director of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation and George R. Roberts Fellow.
“Jerry was a super-fan,” observed President Hiram Chodosh. “I don’t mean only in his devotion to our outstanding athletes. He was a super-fan of every CMC student. What’s stunning is how his support came through how much he challenged and expected of each of them (and all of us). We will miss him, and yet, Jerry imprinted that commitment in all of us—a special legacy in all we do at CMC.”
Before pivoting to a long teaching career, Eyrich, who earned his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate School (now University), served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, working on classified projects in New Mexico; as a defense contractor with General Dynamics; and as a consultant to several technology companies. In addition, while juggling his teaching and coaching responsibilities, he founded and served as president of a successful systems integration company, Lodestar Systems, Inc.
Outside of his professional life, Eyrich found joy in his wife of 61 years, Jerri Eyrich, who passed away in 2020, and his extended family. The Eyriches, who met on a blind date, raised three children, Jeffrey, Katherine (SCR ’87), and Gregory ’83, and were blessed with six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Eyrich and his wife delighted in taking adventures with their grandchildren, offering them a trip anywhere in the U.S. upon eighth grade graduation and anywhere in the world after high school. Alaska was a favorite stateside destination while Ireland and Africa were among the overseas adventures. With a bottomless well of enthusiasm and wanderlust, Eyrich also traveled extensively with the Stags.
“He was strong. He was a force. His energy was unquestionable from the day I met him,” said Eyrich’s son-in-law, Dale Jackson ’88. “He was up early, he was 100%, he was all in.”
Most of the time, he was also 100% sure he was 100% right.
“He was a fountain of information, and while he wasn’t always right, he was confident he was,” Jackson said with affection. “He was pretty sure he had it all figured out, which he often did, but he could laugh about it when life proved otherwise.”
What most characterized his father-in-law, said Jackson, was his dedication to the people he cared about: “Passion and love are ultimately what made Jerry.”