Although Deutsch gave up the day-to-day duties of running RWD four years ago, he remains an integral part of the company, his employees say.
He shows up for work every day in person or by computer from his Florida vacation home. A new BlackBerry helps him stay connected.
"Even when he's in Florida, I probably talk to him two to three times a day. He wants to know what's going on," MacLure said.
These days, Deutsch spends a lot of his time exploring new areas of business for RWD. Of particular interest is nanotechnology.
Friends and colleagues say that kind of curiosity explains his passion for education as well as his life's work in the training business.
Deutsch spent eight years as a professor of nuclear science and engineering at Catholic University. His foundation, established in 1992, has doled out $5 million to support research and technology programs in Maryland colleges and universities, including a $1 million grant for nanobiotechnology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
"He's a great thinker with a youthful approach to solving problems," said Freeman A. Hrabowski III, UMBC's president and a close friend of Deutsch. "He's always asking great questions. He's one of the smartest people I know. He's much younger than his years in every possible way."
In fact, people who know him tell stories of Deutsch's outpacing his younger colleagues on business trips and at the gym.
"What you're looking at in Dr. D. is someone who has the drive and brain power of someone in their 50s but has the experience of several decades that would be a waste to slow down," said Glenn Ross, a managing director of Archstone Portfolio Solutions in Towson, an independent investment consulting firm, which advises Deutsch's foundation.
Retirement may never come for Deutsch. One of RWD's principles, printed on the back of business cards, reads: Work should be an enjoyable part of a well-rounded life.
hanah.cho@baltsun.com
