Thomas N. Ingram (Ph.D., Georgia State University) is professor emeritus of marketing and department chair at Colorado State University. Before commencing his academic career, he worked in sales, product management and sales management with Exxon and Mobil. Dr. Ingram is a recipient of the Marketing Educator of the Year award given by Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI). He was honored as the first recipient of the Mu Kappa Tau National Marketing Honor Society recognition award for Outstanding Scholarly Contributions to the Sales Discipline. The University Sales Center Alliance has designated Dr. Ingram as a Distinguished Sales Educator for his long-term contributions to sales education. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, chair of the SMEI Accreditation Institute and member of the Board of Directors of SMEI. He is also the former editor of the Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice. Dr. Ingram’s primary research is in personal selling and sales management. His work has appeared in professional journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is the co-author of one of the "Ten Most Influential Articles of the 20th Century," as designated by the Sales and Sales Management Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association. Raymond W. (Buddy) LaForge is the Brown-Forman Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Louisville. His has published in many journals, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, He has co-authored several leading books on marketing, sales management, professional selling and strategic leadership. Dr. LaForge has served on the board of many organizations, including as vice president/marketing for the Academy of Business Education; vice president of marketing, teaching and conferences for the American Marketing Association Academic Council; and as chair and vice chair for awards and recognition for the American Marketing Association Sales Interest Group. Dr. LaForge has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Sales Scholar Award from Mu Kappa Tau, Special Recognition Award from the American Marketing Association Sales SIG, Top Thirteen Faculty Favorites at the University of Louisville, Distinguished Scholar Award from the Research Symposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Distinguished Sales Educator Award from the University Sales Center Alliance, Undergraduate Teaching Award from the College of Business, Faculty Favorite Award from REACH Ambassadors, Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding College of Business Faculty Award, James M. Comer Award from the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Gerald E. Hills Best Paper Award from the American Marketing Association Entrepreneurial Marketing SIG, Sales Excellence Award from Louisville Sales Leaders, College of Business Student Council Faculty-of-the Year Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Marketing Association Sales SIG, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Research Symposium on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Ramon A. Avila (Ph.D., Virginia Tech University) is the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Ball State University. Before coming to Ball State, he worked in sales with the Burroughs Corporation. He has held two visiting professorships at the University of Hawaii and the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Dr. Avila was awarded the 2009 University Sales Center Alliance Distinguished Sales Educator. He has also earned Ball State’s Outstanding Faculty Award and Leavey Award for innovation in the classroom with his advanced selling class. Dr. Avila was presented the 1999 Mu Kappa Tau’s Outstanding Contributor to the Sales Profession and was only the third recipient of this award. He has also received the University’s Outstanding Service award, the University’s Outstanding Junior Faculty award and the College of Business Professor of the Year. He also earned the Dean’s Teaching award every year since its inception in 1987. His primary research is in personal selling and sales management. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, the Journal of Management, Industrial Marketing Management, the Marketing Management Journal and the Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice. In addition to this text, he is the co-author of THE PROFESSIONAL SELLING SKILLS WORKBOOK and SALES MANAGEMENT: ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING. Charles H. Schwepker, Jr. (Ph.D., University of Memphis) is the Randall and Kelly Harbert Marketing Professor at the University of Central Missouri. He has experience in wholesale and retail sales and his research interests are in sales management, personal selling and marketing ethics. His articles have appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Service Research, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Business Ethics. He has also published in national and regional proceedings and books including THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF STRATEGIC SALES AND SALES MANAGEMENT, MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS CLASSICS, HANDBOOK OF UNETHICAL WORK BEHAVIOR and ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING. He has received honors for both teaching and advising, including the Hormel Teaching Excellence award, the Alumni Foundation Harmon College of Business Administration Distinguished Professor Award and the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award (awarded to one faculty member at the University of Central Missouri each year to recognize their teaching, research and service). Dr. Schwepker also received the James Comer Award for best contribution to selling and sales management theory awarded by the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management and three "Outstanding Paper" awards at the National Conference in Sales Management. He is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing and Journal of Relationship Marketing, and Journal of Selling. He has served as special issue editor for the Journal of Selling and has won awards as outstanding reviewer five times. He is a co-author of Sales Management: Analysis and Decision-Making. Michael R. Williams (Ph.D., Oklahoma State University) is the American Floral Services Chair in Marketing and Professor of Marketing at Oklahoma City University. His is emeritus professor of marketing at Illinois State University and founding director of the Professional Sales Institute. Before academia, Dr. Williams established a successful career in industrial sales, market research and sales management. He co-authored sales management and professional selling books as well as many executive monographs and white papers. His national and international published research includes Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, Marketing Management Journal, Quality Management Journal, Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Selling and Major Account Management and Journal of Industrial Technology. His academic honors include AMA’s Marvin Jolson Award for Best Contribution to Selling and Sales Management, Outstanding Article for the Year in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, the AACSB’s Leadership in Innovative Business Education award, the Marketing Science Institute’s Alden G. Clayton Competition and the Mu Kappa Tau Marketing Society award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution to the Sales Discipline. His academic and corporate teaching and research awards include Old Republic Research Scholar, a seminar at Oxford’s Brasenose College, Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who in America. He served as program chair and conference director for the National Conference in Sales Management, special issue co-editor for Journal of Business Research, and he continues serving in leadership roles for sales-related organizations.
