A surprise award was presented to WSU Spokane Chancellor Rom Markin by President V. Lane Rawlins at the Celebrating Excellence banquet honoring faculty and staff award winners March 26.
The President’s Award for Exemplary Lifetime Service is presented from time to time as the merit of nominees warrants such recognition. The president selects recipients from nominations made by the provost, chancellors, deans, vice presidents and members of the president’s cabinet. The award honors dedicated individuals who have given a substantial part of their career to advancing WSU through excellent service in administration, teaching, research, extension or a professional field.
“Rom’s devotion and contributions to the university are exemplary and deserving of recognition,” Rawlins said.
“The award was not only a surprise, it was the most satisfying recognition I have ever received,” Markin said. “It has been a joy and a pleasure to serve WSU all these years, but to be recognized and acknowledged for your contributions in such a grand manner is great validation and reinforcement that simply adds further to my appreciation for the many opportunities provided to me by our great university.”
Spokane chancellor since January 2003, Markin has built an acclaimed and diverse career during his four decades at Washington State University. He is credited as the driving force behind funding and creation of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the College of Business and Economics in 1995, the same year he ended his 15-year role as college dean.
He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a bachelor’s degree from Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va. He taught at Indiana University and Montana State University before joining WSU, where he became a full professor in 1969.
He served the university in 2000 as interim provost. Since then, he has taught entrepreneurship classes and also performed a myriad of duties associated with the Maughmer Freedom Philosophy Professorship, which he has held since October 1999. Prior to that, he held the James D. Huber Memorial Chair of Entrepreneurship.
His interests in teaching and research are in the fields of entrepreneurship, marketing, retailing management and consumer behavior. An avid reader, he is an eloquent speaker and writer. In addition to numerous academic papers and proceedings, he has authored eight books during his career at WSU.
