Marketing department head holds first Blue Bell Creameries Chair in Business

Mark Houston

Mark B. Houston has joined Mays Business School’s Department of Marketing as department head, professor and the Blue Bell Creameries Chair in Business. Houston is the inaugural holder of the chair, which was created in 2009.

Prior to joining Texas A&M University in 2014, Houston served on the faculties of TCU (chaired full professor), University of Missouri (endowed professorship), Saint Louis University and Bowling Green State University.

Houston received his PhD from Arizona State, his MBA from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist University.

Houston also maintains active research affiliations with Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership and the University of Münster (Germany). His award-winning research on channels, movies and innovation strategy has been published in Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, among others.

He is associate editor of Journal of Service Research. He has served as President of the AMA Academic Council (2012-2013), and has co-chaired the AMA Summer Educators’ Conference (2005) and the AMA/Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium (2010). His teaching has received awards at the national (Academy of Marketing Science), university (University of Missouri) and college levels (TCU’s Neeley School of Business; Saint Louis University’s Cook School of Business). He has conducted research, consulting and/or executive education activities with many firms, including AT&T, Caterpillar, Dell, IBM, INGAA, Marriott.com and WellPoint.

Houston said he was attracted to Mays because of its reputation as a college that encourages research, and he looks forward to working with PhD students again.

“Also, it is a great opportunity to be a part of a nice community and to lead a group of great colleagues,” he said. “I am looking forward to it.”