Vanessa Perry, associate dean for faculty and research and professor of marketing, strategic management and public policy, has been named as the American Marketing Association (AMA) Foundation’s 2020 Williams-Qualls-Spratlen (WQS) Multicultural Mentoring Award of Excellence recipient.
“I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of this award than Dr. Perry. This is fitting recognition of her outstanding contributions to her field from its most prestigious academic-professional association,” Dean Anuj Mehrotra said. “This is a great honor for Dr. Perry — and for GWSB!”
The WQS Award is presented annually to a marketing professor who has made significant research and teaching contributions as a mentor to students and professors of color from underrepresented groups in the field of marketing, particularly, those who are African American, Hispanic and Native American. The purpose of the WQS Award is to encourage and reward outstanding mentors of people of color in the academic marketing community.
The AMA Foundation received many letters of recommendation nominating Dr. Perry for the award, including one from a former student who is now a professor at Howard University:
“[Dr. Perry] taught me about the idiosyncrasies of the career, helped me navigate the process of finding a new advisor when mine left, offered positive affirmations when I didn’t feel that I deserved to be in a PhD program, and was among the first people to congratulate me when I defended my dissertation.
“In addition to being a dedicated mentor, Vanessa is a consummate scholar. She has authored more than 1400 citations in some of the field’s top journals including the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and California Management Review.
“Needless to say, Vanessa is a pillar in the marketing field. She is a woman of high integrity, has published in leading journals, and is committed to mentoring students and young professors of color. With that said, I do not hesitate to recommend Vanessa for the WQS award; I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.”
In reviewing Dr. Perry’s nomination, members of the AMA Foundation’s award selection committee commented, “Dr. Perry has clearly been a pillar in serving young scholars and has built a legacy as a mentor of many mentors (a few of which are in this line-up for the WQS this year)” and “I think Dr. Perry’s packet shows a level of depth and consistency in mentoring diverse scholars in ways that the others have yet to achieve.”
Dr. Perry will formally receive the WQS Award at the 2020 AMA Summer Academic Conference in August.