Mission & Culture

The purpose of the doctoral program in marketing is to facilitate the student’s acquisition of the professional competence that allows him or her to contribute to marketing knowledge and practice through original research and teaching. Upon completion of the program, the student should be acquainted with the most advanced levels of learning and research methodology in the area of marketing. We offer a program that is well regarded and that prepares students to compete with the graduates of other nationally recognized schools. To accomplish our mission, we have a strong program that recognizes the collective thoughts and capabilities of the marketing faculty at The University of Alabama.

Our program started in 1962, with our first graduate graduating in 1964. One of our most prominent graduates was Barry Mason, who was our Dean for 25 years. We have graduated 140 students as of 2012. For addresses of our former students go to the student page of this site.

Culture

Our program encourages strong interaction between students and faculty. Students are expected to work with faculty both through research fellowships or assistantships and on their own initiative. Coursework is also geared to helping each student develop a portfolio of skills in conceptualizing and actualizing research interests. Coursework often requires either a potentially publishable paper or a possible dissertation proposal. Students are encouraged to publish journal articles and to present conference papers as early as possible in the program. Students are also offered teaching assistantships, which allow them to gain appropriate classroom instructional experience.