The William L. Wilkie “Marketing for a Better World” honors marketing thinkers who have significantly contributed to our understanding and appreciation for marketing’s potential to improve our world, and from whose work notable advances have ensued—in the mold of Bill Wilkie of the University of Notre Dame.
Eligibility
Nominees must be marketing professors, and self-nominations will not be reviewed.
Application Process
All nominations must be made online by clicking the nomination form at the top of this page, and all materials must be submitted at one time. The following information is needed:
- Nominee and nominator contact information.
- Summary of the nominee’s accompliments, especially with respect to how their work has advanced marketing’s contributions to a better world (e.g., through fairness or efficiency, or new opportunities). These accomplishments may be seen through publications, academic infrastructure, and/or applications.
- Vitae of nominee (highly recommended, but not required)
- Letter of recommendation from the nominator.
- Up to two additional letters of support from other knowledgeable colleagues (optional).
Nominations received in a particular year will be retained as active for a three-year period.
History
Marketing is a wonderfully complex and important field of study. The aggregate marketing system is a huge and sprawling human institution, embedded in the daily life of its society. It brings a dynamism to its society as it strives to grow and create. Marketing monitors the wants and needs of its citizens, and works to deliver satisfactions of these. It builds tangible and intangible infrastructures to assist in its work, and brings employment and wages to its millions of members. While marketing can sometimes overstep bounds in its pursuits, it also can bring wonder to—and real improvements in—peoples’ daily lives. One important goal for the aggregate marketing system, therefore, is that it be both fair and efficient in its operations.
The contributions of the nominees can reflect conceptual developments, substantive applications, or empirical studies. While the award is not restricted to an area of work, among the sectors in which such efforts might be expected to appear are (no ordering implied):
- Marketing theory
- Marketing and public policy
- Marketing and economic development
- Competition
- Pricing
- Advertising
- Social marketing
- Macromarketing
- Innovation in marketing
- Marketing ethics and social responsibility
- Services marketing
- Marketing and the consumer interest
- Transformative consumer research
Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame University
Recognition and Benefits
The recipient of the award will be honored at the AMA Winter Academic Conference. The recipient will receive complimentary registration, travel stipend, and a Tiffany crystal award.
AMA Foundation
As the philanthropic arm of the AMA, the AMA Foundation champions individual marketers who are making an impact in our profession and community. We recognize marketing visionaries who have elevated the field, and we support the next generation of marketers who will transform the profession.
Past Recipients
2025
David W. Stewart
President’s Professor Emeritus
Department of Marketing and Business Law
Loyola Marymount University
2024
Katherine White
Senior Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability
Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
2023
Clifford Shultz
Professor and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing
Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago
2022
Christine Moorman
T. Austin Finch Professor of Marketing, Sr of Business Administration
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
2021
Madhu Viswanathan
Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration
Loyola Marymount University
2020
John A. Quelch
Leonard M. Miller University Professor
Vice Provost, University of Miami
Dean, Miami Herbert Business School
2019
Ronald Paul Hill
Professor of Marketing
American University
Kogod School of Business
2018
Leonard L. Berry
M.B. Zale Chair in Retailing and Marketing Leadership & University Distinguised Professor of Marketing
Texas A&M University
Mays Business School
2017
George S. Day
Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor Emeritus
University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School
2016
Thomas C. Kinnear
D. Maynard Phelps Collegiate Professor of Business Administration
University of Michigan
Ross School of Business
2015
Alan R. Andreasen
Professor of Marketing
Georgetown University
McDonough School of Business
2014
Jagdish N. Sheth
Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing
Emory University
Goizueta Business School
2013
Philip Kotler
S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University