A Decade of Support


This year, MQABL’s Marketing Advisory Board (MAB) proudly celebrates its tenth anniversary. The board was formed in 2008 when department head Dr. Brian Engelland saw a need for more alumni involvement. Initially, MAB members offered advice about the curriculum and assisted with fundraising; through the decade, their mission and activities have expanded. Today they serve as a sounding board for faculty, bringing the perspective of the marketplace to advise on their ideas, and proposing ideas of their own. They engage with students, assist with specific development initiatives and help the department advance scholarship.

“I love being involved with the university. I was National President of the Alumni Association in 2011, and when that ended I became interested in getting involved with my major,” remarks MAB member Karen Lawler, a team leader in the Budget Integration & Analysis Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, AL. “It’s great comparing where marketing was when I was a student with where it is now and exciting to see the professors’ enthusiasm and interaction with students.”

“For me, one thing that stands out is the Marketing Student of the Year scholarship the board has established,” comments John Walters, a current and founding MAB member and NIGP Program Director for Periscope Holdings in Austin, TX. “It allows us to directly help outstanding undergraduates, and it provides an opportunity for the department to promote excellence among students.”

Board members present Marisa Holyoak the 2018 Marketing Student of the Year scholarship.

A project recently backed by the board has been the development of MQABL’s new Market Innovation Lab and Observatory (MILO), a premier biometric research facility. Some years ago, Russell Dale – also a current and founding board member – presented his colleagues with an idea that preceded MILO.

“I made a presentation recommending a consumer behavior lab,” recalls Dale, Director of Sales-Consumer in the Attends Health Care division of Domtar Personal Care in Rochester Hills, MI. “Through my work at various points with major manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, Pepsi USA and Scott Paper Company–Scott Health Care, I saw that a lot of companies in middle America required consumer research, and a facility located at MSU could meet their needs.”

Dale and his colleagues have worked with MQABL to move MILO from idea to reality, just as their support and advice have helped the department as a whole move forward. MQABL and Mississippi State are grateful to MAB members past and present for their service.

Feature photo:  Board members try out the new MILO lab.

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