John Summey wins inaugural 'Impact Award'

January 18, 2006

John Summey wins inaugural 'Impact Award'

by K.C. Jaehnig

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- John H. Summey, associate professor of marketing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has become the first recipient of the Marketing Research Association's Impact Award. The newly established award honors those outside the industry who have contributed to the profession in meaningful ways. Summey received a crystal trophy Nov. 2 during the group's fall conference in Las Vegas, Nev.

John S. Heakin, SIUC marketing alumnus and president of North American Insights, a marketing research field data collection company headquartered in Olympia Fields, nominated Summey for the award.

Heakin noted that nearly one-sixth of the students enrolled in SIUC's College of Business and Administration plan to go into marketing and that all undergraduates must take Summey's class on marketing research.

"No matter what aspect of marketing they pursued as a career, all of John's students carry with them a basic knowledge of the hard work and skill it takes to be a research professional and a healthy respect for the role of marketing research in developing the new and improved products and services that keep our economy healthy and make American companies world leaders," he wrote in his nominating letter.

Summey, who earlier in the year had won the University's award as top teacher campus wide, said he felt quite honored by this recognition.

"You work for many years to try to prepare students and to give them insights into what they're going to be doing when they get out, to enable them to succeed," he said.

"To have someone say, ‘Wow, you have done a good job at this!'" — it's pretty cool. It makes you smile and it makes you cry."

A faculty member since 1977, Summey earned his bachelor's degree in 1962 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his master of business administration and doctoral degrees in 1969 and 1974 respectively from Arizona State University.

Celebrating faculty excellence is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.