Marketing prof given EMBA alumni professorship
Leyland Pitt, 778.782.7712; leyland_pitt@sfu.ca
Derek Moscato, SFU Business, 778.782.5038; derek_moscato@sfu.ca
Simon Fraser University marketing professor Leyland Pitt has been appointed as the university’s Dennis F. Culver Executive MBA Alumni professor.
Dennis Culver, who passed away earlier this year, graduated from the first class of executive MBAs at SFU and forged an enduring relationship with the institution. The EMBA alumni endowment – a fund Culver helped establish – created the EMBA professorship for which he is named.
Pitt is a prolific researcher whose work has been published by several leading academic journals. His research focuses on a wide range of contemporary marketing issues, including entrepreneurship, strategy and marketing-information technology interface.
His most recent work examines deceptive ambush marketing tactics at global sporting events including the Olympics, consumer conversations around advertising in the Web 2.0 environment, and the role of avatars (digital characters as salespersons) in the 3D virtual world of Second Life.
His paper, Talking Back: Two Approaches to Interpreting Consumer Response to Consumer Generated Advertising, is slated for publication in the Journal of Advertising Research.
Pitt has won many awards for teaching excellence, including the dean’s teaching honour roll at SFU Business, MBA Teacher of the Year at Copenhagen Business School, and best professor of programs, Joint Executive MBA, University of Vienna and University of Minnesota.
He is also the recipient of the 2010 Pearson Prentice Hall Solomon-Marshall-Stuart Award for Innovative Excellence in Marketing Education, given annually by the American Marketing Association.
The EMBA program at SFU Business – the first of its kind in Canada – was established by SFU for working professionals in 1968. Since then, more than 1500 executives have risen to leadership positions across a range of sectors in organizations locally, nationally and internationally.
About Dennis Culver
Born in Okanagan Falls, B.C. and raised in Victoria and Vancouver, Culver created his chartered accountancy practice, Culver & Co., in 1954, and went on to serve as president of both the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of B.C. – receiving a lifetime achievement award from the latter.
Passionate about the value of higher education, Culver graduated from the first class of Executive MBAs at SFU and over the years was a consistent supporter of the school. He was instrumental in the success of the EMBA Alumni Association and chaired the committee overseeing the EMBA alumni endowment – a fund he helped establish.
The endowment is used to this day for scholarships for EMBA students. It is also used for what is now known as the Dennis F. Culver EMBA Alumni Professorship. He received an honorary degree from SFU in 1992 in recognition of his contributions to the university.