First endowed chair in marketing awarded

PULLMAN — The first endowed chair in marketing at Washington State University has been awarded to David Sprott, associate professor of marketing .

The Boeing Scott and Linda Carson Chair in Marketing was established in fall 2005 by a gift from The Boeing Company honoring Scott and Linda Carson’s leadership and dedication to higher education, and by an additional gift from the Carson family. In addition to serving as the Boeing executive for WSU, Scott Carson (’72 B.A. Business Administration) served as chair of the College of Business National Board of Advisors during 2005-2006.

Together with their family, Scott and Linda Carson funded the creation of the Carson Center for Professional Development in the College of Business in 2005 and have also established an endowed scholarship fund.

In recognition of their generosity and leadership, CB Dean Eric Spangenberg commemorated the creation of the endowed chair by presenting Scott and Linda Carson with an engraved chair at the inaugural Dean’s Leadership Event in Seattle on June 1. Footage of this special award presentation is available here: www.cb.wsu.edu/news/images/CarsonMarketingChair06.wmv.

Carson, executive vice president of sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has seen the importance of education in marketing to success in any discipline. The endowed chair will support world-class instruction in cutting-edge marketing practices.

“Linda and I believe that Professor Sprott brings a world-class level of marketing insight and expertise to the Carson Chair that will be a real advantage for our students,” said Scott Carson. “Professor Sprott combines great background in a wide range of marketing and consumer disciplines with a special focus on international business, which is so critical in today’s marketplace.”

“The Carsons set a wonderful example for students of leadership, hard work and philanthropy. Through the Boeing Scott and Linda Carson Chair, I hope to carry out their vision of preparing students for success,” said Sprott. 

Sprott, who previously held the CB’s Gardner O. Hart Distinguished Professorship, has been applauded by the college for excellence in teaching, research and service, and was awarded a Dean’s Excellence Fellowship in 2006.

An avid traveler who has worked abroad, Sprott has helped to further the internationalization of the college by developing a semester-long exchange program open to all CB majors in Brig, Switzerland. He serves as the coordinator for the doctorate program’s concentration in marketing, is in charge of the Department of Marketing’s consumer behavior lab and subject pool, and teaches courses related to consumer behavior and branding as well a Ph.D. seminar on social science research methods.

Sprott’s research examines consumer behavior and the effects of social influence, branding, and consumer information processing in retail settings, and has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Consumer Psychology and Journal of Retailing. Most recently, he has researched how one’s self-predictions can influence future behavior. This paper, “Self-Monitoring and Susceptibility to the Influence of Self-Prophecy,” is scheduled to appear in Journal of Consumer Research in 2006.

Sprott joined the marketing faculty in 1995 and was promoted to associate professor in 2003. He earned his doctorate in business administration from the University of South Carolina and both bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Kent State University. A native of Ravenna, Ohio, Sprott lives in Pullman with his wife and three children.