Origins of the ISM
The International Society of Marketing was formed in 2021, yet shares a history dating back to the 1960s. With the decision by the MMA to discontinue its affiliation with the MBAA, the International Society of Marketing (ISM) has now become the official marketing organization within the MBAA. ISM was formed by collaboration of over 20 past MMA Presidents and other organization leaders. With this well-established leadership group, ISM will take its place as a premier organization for Marketing academics.
As both the MMA and ISM share a history with the MBAA, it was decided that both organizations would share that common history relating to past MMA officers, Innovative Marketing Award Recipients and Fellows being recognized and conferred the same status in ISM.
The history of the Marketing division of the MBAA is one of over 50 years of progress and innovation. From humble regional beginnings, the organization has grown into one of the leading academic societies. Based on documentation from the MBAA, “A Brief History of the Midwest Marketing Association 1977-1983” by Don Mulvihill, and on MMA publications and website and information from ISM contributors, this history identifies key dates in the evolution of the organization.
In order to keep the length of this document manageable, it has been impossible to recognize all those who have made significant contributions to the growth and evolution of what is now the ISM. For this, we apologize.
A Chronology from 1964-2022 – Key Dates
1964
The beginnings of the ISM can be traced back to the formation of the MBAA. In 1964, a number of faculty members from business administration disciplines decided to form an organization to meet concurrently with the Midwest Economic Association. The first meeting of the new organization, called the Midwest Business Administration Association, convened in 1965, with defined service area of 12 states – Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. There was a Marketing track on the MBAA program.
1976
Within the MBAA, the Accounting, Business Law and Case Writers groups had set up a formal organizations. In 1976, a number of people from the informal marketing group suggested that Marketing, too, should set up a formal organization. Prominent in the movement were N.W. Edwards, Don Shawver, Elwyn DeVore, Don Scotton, James Spalding and Don Mulvihill. Sending a mailing on November 16, 1976 to 673 marketing professors in the 12 state service region led to a response from 150 professors in 9 states. As a result, an organizational meeting was scheduled at the MBAA conference in St Louis on April 1, 1977. Fifty two marketing professors attended the first meeting and were designated as Charter Members. and the Midwest Marketing Association was officially formed, and a constitution and by-laws were adopted. First officers were:
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- James “Bud” Spalding Jr. Bellaramine College President
- A.H. Kizilbash Northern Illinois University Vice-President
- Don Mulvihill Kent State University Secretary-treasurer
At the 1978 conference, 123 people registered with the Midwest Marketing Association. At the conference, a succession policy for officers was adopted, following the format of the MBAA, and an Advisory Committee was established, primarily to aid in the review of papers
Table 1 is a list of Presidents of the MBAA affiliated Marketing organization – originally the Midwest Marketing Association (to 1995) then the Marketing Management Association (1995-2021) and now International Society of Marketing.
1979
The third year, 1979 was marked by the first publication of the Midwest Marketing Association Conference Proceedings. Southern Illinois University provided the financial support and Joe Horsley and Sion Raveed, both from Southern Illinois University, were the editors.
Year 4, 1980, saw the expansion of the executive group from three to six – President, President Elect/Program Chair, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Immediate Past President, and established a three-year rotating term for the Advisory Committee. Don Vaughn from Bradley University joined Joe Horsley and Sion Raveed as editors of the Proceedings.
1981
In 1981, the first Best Paper awards in the categories of Marketing Education and Marketing Management were awarded. Along with three other MBAA affiliated organizations, the Marketing organization also awarded a Distinguished Paper Award, funded by publishers Richard D. Irwin, Inc. and Business Publications Inc.
In 1982, responsibility of editing the Proceedings moved to N.W. Edwards (University of Missouri – Columbia), and Carol Anderson, Blaise Bergiel and Clyde Jenkins, all of Southern Illinois University.
In 1983, Southern Illinois University continued supporting publication of the Proceedings, with Blaise Bergiel and Carol Anderson being joined by R. Vishwanathan.
Table 1: List of Organization Presidents
1977-95 Midwest Marketing Assoc; 1995-2021 Marketing Management Assoc; 2021- International Society of Marketing
| Year | President | Affiliation |
| 1977-781978-79
1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1997-98 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 |
+ James “Bud” Spalding+ A.H. “Cary” Kizilbash
+ Don Mulvilhill + Paul Arney + Don Shawver Gene Laczniak Jim Grimm + Lynn Loudenback + John Berens + Lyn Abercrombie + Carol Anderson Bert Kellerman Blaise Bergiel + Joyce Grahn Paul Thistlethwaite John Summey Charles Pettijohn * # Peter Gordon + Mike d’Amico Ron Taylor + Eleanor Maliche Karen Glynn Gene Wunder Ram Kesavan Julie Toner Schrader Bob Erffmeyer Brian Engelland * Fred Hoyt * # Judy Wiles Melissa Moore * # Linda Ferrell Robin Luke * John Cherry * # Rama Yelkur Mandeep Singh * Stacey Hills # Carrie Trimble Roscoe Hightower Brian Vander Schee Pam Kennett-Hensel Susan Geringer Gail Zank Chad Milewicz Jeanetta Sims Leila Samli * # Rama Yelkur |
Bellaramine CollegeNorthern Illinois University
Kent State University Bradley University University of Missouri – Columbia Marquette University Illinois State University Iowa State University Indiana State University University of Memphis Southern Illinois University Southeast Missouri State University Nicholls State University University of Minnesota – Duluth Western Illinois University Southern Illinois University Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University University of Akron Mississippi State University West Virginia State University Dominican University Washburn University University of Detroit- Mercy Bellaramine University University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Catholic University of America Illinois Wesleyan University Southeast Missouri State University Mississippi State University Belmont University Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Western Illinois University Southern Vermont College Millikin University Florida A & M University Aurora University University of New Orleans California State University, Fresno Texas State University University of Southern Indiana University of Central Oklahoma Southern New Hampshire University Texas Woman’s University |
+ Deceased * ISM Charter Members # ISM Founding Board
In 1984, Western Illinois University assumed the responsibility of publishing the Proceedings, with Paul Thistlethwaite, and Dorrie M. Gorman (both of WIU) Lynn J. Loudenback (Iowa State) and Jim L. Grimm (Illinois State) acting as editors. In 1985, Paul Thistlethwaite and Dorrie Billingsly (formerly Gorman) were joined by John Berens (Indiana State) in editing the Proceedings.
1985
At the 1985 meeting, it was decided, starting in 1986, that the Proceedings would be renamed and re-formatted to become The Journal of Midwest Marketing. The Journal of Midwest Marketing was later published twice a year. Both a conference edition, and a second non-conference edition was published annually until 1991 under the auspices of WIU (1986-1988) and Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) the fall 1989 edition.
By 1989, attendance at the conference was 170, making the Marketing organization by far the largest organization within the MBAA (Total MBAA Conference attendance was 916. Membership rose to 303 members, representing 34 states and 186 universities. The conference edition of The Journal of Marketing Management was edited by Paul Thistlethwaite and Jim DeConnick (both of WIU) and Blaise Bergiel. The Fall edition was edited by Lynn Abercrombie (Univ of Memphis) and Peter J. Gordon (Southeast Missouri State University)
In 1990 the final edition of The Journal of Midwest Marketing was published by WIU, with Paul Thistlethwaite, Rolf Hackman and Ron Bauerly (all WIU) and Joyce Grahn as editors. The Midwest Marketing Association Board voted to discontinue The Journal of Midwest Marketing and reinstitute the Conference Proceedings for the following year. A new Journal, The Journal of Marketing Management, would begin publication the next year, too. David Kurtz, from the University of Arkansas was elected to be editor of the new journal
In 1991, Volume 1, number 1 edition of The Journal of Marketing Management (JMM) was published by Southeast Missouri State University. Editors of the new Journal were Dave Kurtz (University of Arkansas) and Bert Kellerman and Peter Gordon (Southeast Missouri State University). The new Journal was listed in Cabell’s, adding further credibility to the new publication.
Through successive years, Kurtz, Kellerman and Gordon, Kurtz with Paul Thistlethwaite and Valeria A. Dupy (WIU) and Dub Ashton and Sherryl Barge at University of Arkansas took turns at editing and publishing the JMM. The Journal of Marketing Management evolved into the Marketing Management Journal and continues to be published by the MMA.
1995
In 1995, the Board passed two innovations:
- Voted to change the name of the organization from Midwest Marketing Association to Marketing Management Association, to reflect the wider geographic appeal of the organization.
- Voted to recognize those who had made significant contributions to the organization by naming them as “Fellows”. The first fellows were to be announced at the 1995 conference. Table 2 list all Fellows.
Table 2: Fellows of the MMA/ISM
| 1995 | Paul Arney, John Berens & Don Mulvihill |
| 1996 | Bud Spalding |
| 1997 | Lyn Abercrombie |
| 1998 | Bert Kellerman |
| 1999 | Carol Anderson & Peter Gordon |
| 2000 | Mike d’Amico |
| 2001 | Charles Pettijohn |
| 2002 | Jim L. Grimm |
| 2003 | Ron Taylor |
| 2004 | Gene Wunder |
| 2005 | Julie Toner |
| 2006 | Bob Erffmeyer |
| 2007 | Brian Engelland |
| 2008 | Eleanor Maliche |
| 2009 | Judy Wiles |
| 2010 | Fred Hoyt |
| 2011 | Sue Petroshius |
| 2012 | John Cherry |
| 2013 | Don Roy |
| 2014 | Michelle Kunz |
| 2015 | Tim Graeff |
| 2016 | Michael Messina |
| 2017 | Lyle Wetsch |
| 2018 | Brian Vander Schee |
| 2019 | Pam Kennett-Hensel |
| 2021 | Susan Geringer |
1996
1996 saw the next step in the evolution of the Marketing organization. The first Fall Educators’ Conference was convened in St Louis. Table 3 Lists Fall Conference Program Chairs and the venue. An archive of conference proceedings through to 2019 is available on the MMA website.
Table 3: Fall Conference Chair(s) and Venue (in-person conference)
| Year | Principal Organizers | Venue |
| 1996 | Peter Gordon | St Louis |
| 1997 | Peter Gordon | St Louis |
| 1998 | Peter Gordon & Bert Kellerman | St Louis |
| 1999 | Peter Gordon & Bert Kellerman | St Louis |
| 2000 | Judy Wiles | St Louis |
| 2001 | Judy Wiles | St Louis |
| 2002 | Steve Corbin & Larry Zigler | Memphis |
| 2003 | Steve Corbin, Michelle Kunz, Judy Wiles & Larry Zigler | Nashville |
| 2004 | Ron Taylor & Karen Goodwin | St Louis |
| 2005 | John Cherry | Kansas City |
| 2006 | John Cherry | Nashville |
| 2007 | Peter Gordon | St Louis |
| 2008 | John Cherry | Louisville |
| 2009 | Peter Gordon | St Louis |
| 2010 | Brian Vander Schee | Indianapolis |
| 2011 | Brian Vander Schee | St Louis |
| 2012 | Brian Vander Schee | Minneapolis |
| 2013 | Deborah DeLong, Dawn Edmiston & Brian Vander Schee | New Orleans |
| 2014 | Deborah DeLong, Dawn Edmiston & Brian Vander Schee | San Antonio |
| 2015 | Lisa Lingren, Brent Smith & Deborah DeLong | Puerto Rico |
| 2016 | Deborah DeLong & Lisa Lingren | Providence |
| 2017 | Deborah DeLong & Lisa Lingren | Pittsburgh |
| 2018 | Lisa Lingren, Leila Samli & Ursula Sullivan | Kansas City |
| 2019 | Leile Samli, Rebecca Hochradel & Ursula Sullivan | Santa Fe |
2001
In 2001, the first Innovative Marketing Award was presented, to recognize a marketing educator who has made innovative contributions to the field of marketing. Table 4 is a list of recipients.
Table 4: Recipients of the Innovative Marketing Award
| Year | Recipient |
| 2001 | O.C. Ferrell |
| 2002 | Philip Kotler |
| 2003 | Jagdish Seth |
| 2004 | Valerie Zeithaml |
| 2005 | David Aaker |
| 2006 | Bob Lusch |
| 2007 | Joe Hair |
| 2008 | David Kurtz |
| 2009 | Mike d’Amico |
| 2010 | Bill Pride |
| 2011 | Shelby Hunt |
| 2012 | Peter Gordon |
| 2013 | Don Schultz |
| 2014 | Mary Jo Bitner |
| 2015 | Michael Solomon |
| 2016 | Dawn Deeter- Schmeiz |
| 2017 | Linda Ferrell |
| 2018 | Paul Hensel |
| 2019 | Sandy Yap |
| 2020 | Mark Houston |
| 2021 | Michael Brady |
The Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education was launched in 2001 and continues publication under the auspices of the MMA.
The New Millennium
Over the following 20 years, from 2001, the MMA continued its affiliation with MBAA, participating in the Spring MBAA conference in Chicago and continued to offer a fall educators’ conference. The MMA continued to publish two journals and innovate with various other conference events. With the formation of the ISM in 2021, it is anticipated that a new journal will be launched as well as several other innovations which will establish ISM as a leading academic organization.
2021
Following the withdrawal of the MMA from the MBAA conference, to fill the need for a high quality marketing organization within the MBAA, a group of well-established academics with conference leadership experience came together to establish the International Society of Marketing. The ISM is fully recognized by the MBAA and is registered with the IRS as a non-profit organization.
Charter Members of the ISM are:
- Jeff Clark, Professor, Middle Tennessee State University, MBAA International Executive Director
- John Cherry, Professor Emeritus, Southeast Missouri State University, Past MMA President, MMA Fellow
- Linda Ferrell, Faculty Fellow at Auburn University, Past MMA President, MMA Fellow, Recipient of Innovative Marketing Award
- O.C. Ferrell, Eminent Scholar at Auburn University, Recipient of Innovative Marketing Award
- Peter Gordon, Professor Emeritus, Southeast Missouri State University, Past MMA President, MMA Fellow, Recipient of Innovative Marketing Award
- Stacey Hills, Asst. Professor, Columbia-Greene Community College, Past MMA President
- Fred Hoyt, Emeritus Associate Professor, Illinois Wesleyan University, Past MMA President, MMA Fellow
- Eliane Karsaklian, Clinical Professor, University of Illinois–Chicago, Professor, Sorbonne University, Paris
- Lou Pelton, Associate Professor, University of North Texas, Global Education Marketing Development
- Judy Wiles, Emeritus Professor, Southeast Missouri State University, Past MMA President, Past MMA Treasurer, MMA Fellow
- Rama Yelkur, Dean, College of Business, Texas Woman’s University, Past MMA President, Past MMA Treasurer
To guide the ISM during the initial years, the ISM Founding Board was established. The Board consists of the following people:
- Rama Yelkur: Inaugural ISM President
- Eliane Karsaklian: Program Chair of the Spring 2023 ISM Conference
- Carrie Trimble: Secretary, VP of Marketing and Program Chair of the Spring 2024 ISM Conference
- Linda Farrell: Co-chair of the Spring 2022 ISM Conference
- O.C. Ferrell: Co-chair of the Spring 2022 ISM Conference
- Kenneth Heischmidt: Treasurer
- Suzanne Altobello: Webmaster
- Raj Devasagayam: Board Member
- Peter Gordon: Board Member
- Judy Wiles: Board Member
2022 – present
After 2 years of covid interrupted conferences, the first ISM Spring conference was held in Chicago as part of the MBAA on March 23-25 as a blended in-person and hybrid conference. The MBAA conference is often described as the best-value business conference and allows collaboration between colleagues in different academic disciplines. The 2022 ISM conference was a successful first conference back with the MBAA and included a Practitioner Session with Constellation Brands, who also sponsored the MBAA hors d’ouvres session.
The 2023 ISM Spring Conference grew even more, with the return of Constellation Brands and the addition of a new practitioner session, Tiesta Tea. This year served as the inaugural Leon Hess Business School (LHBS) Societal Impact Award, sponsored by the Leon Hess Business School (LHBS) of Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey.