Innovator Markets Business to Students
For Associate Professor Steve Edison, the key to successfully training marketing and sales professionals is determining how they can add value for their employers. Using role-playing, quizzes, and exercises are all a part of how he makes it possible for students in the UALR College of Business to compete on a global level.
Dr. Edison worked in the private sector for many years before joining the academic world, so he brings a unique respect for students’ “real-world” experiences. In return, many of those students have employed his marketing methods – along with his rubrics and marketing plans – in their careers, whether they are employed in the high school business classroom or in a marketing firm. He is accessible to his students while they are in his class and beyond, making Edison a strong mentor.
In 2006, Dr. Edison saw there was a vacuum of useful sales training for traditional and nontraditional students who wanted to improve their skills and meet their sales goals. Edison launched the Center for Professional Selling, a hub for an academic minor and certificate program in professional selling. In developing the curriculum, he gained area business support and advice for growing the program. Like in Dr. Edison’s marketing courses, the professional selling program will include role-playing and field experience.
Dr. Edison earned his bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and his master’s degree from Gonzaga University. He finished his doctoral degree at Texas Tech University. He is a past chapter president of the American Marketing Association and is a member of the boards for UALR’s American Humanics program and the University’s Cooperative Education program.