Professor Receives 2026 Rusty Brooks Distinguished Service Award

Babin, the Phil B. Hardin Chair and Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the School of Business Administration, will accept the honor at a Nov. 6 awards luncheon during the SMA annual conference in Orlando, Florida.

"Rusty and I have been friends for a long time, so it's particularly meaningful to be recognized with this award," he said. "SMA has been an important part of my professional life for many years, and it has been a privilege to serve an organization that has contributed so much to so many colleagues and friends."

Established in 2018, the award recognizes exceptional service and commitment to the society. Mark Pelletier, the society's president, cited Babin's contributions to the group over the years and his support for colleagues and members he has worked with along the way.

"Barry has been an extraordinary contributor to the Society for Marketing Advances, and his commitment to the organization and its members has been evident throughout his many years of service," said Pelletier, an associate professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. "He has consistently given his time, expertise and support to SMA, while also being a generous colleague and mentor to others in our profession.

"The Rusty Brooks Distinguished Service Award is a fitting recognition of the impact Barry has had on the society and the people who make it such a special organization."

The SMA hosts an annual conference bringing together marketing educators and professionals from the United States and abroad.

Babin's involvement with the society spans decades, beginning with his first meeting in 1987 as a doctoral student. He served as president from 1998 to '99, as well as other offices on the group's executive council from 1995 to 2000. He was named a distinguished fellow of the society in 2002.

His service extends to other professional organizations. He is a past president of the Academy of Marketing Science and serves as its executive director. He has also received AMS's Harold Berkman Service Award and the Cutco-Vector Outstanding Marketing Educator Award.

"Barry remains one of our most accomplished professors," said Rich Gentry, dean of the Ole Miss business school. "As the Rusty Brooks Distinguished Service Award from SMA highlights, not only is he a successful research professor; he undertakes the unpaid and underappreciated service that is so central to the success of a healthy academic discipline."

Babin earned his doctorate from Louisiana State University in 1991. He has authored more than 200 research publications in journals including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing and Journal of Business Research. He is also co-author of widely used textbooks on marketing research.

His areas of research include wine marketing, customer experiences, value creation, implicit processing and sales management technologies.

Babin expressed his gratitude for the honor.

"I am particularly grateful to have worked closely with other distinguished fellows such as Michel Laroche, Jean-Charles Chebat, Dave Ortinau, Bob Robicheaux, Joe Hair, Arch Woodside and many, many others," he said. "I am humbled by this recognition and sincerely appreciate the leadership for thinking of me as worthy."

Top: Chancellor Glenn Boyce presents Barry Babin with a medal designating him as a Distinguished Professor in the annual spring faculty meeting in May. The Society for Marketing Advances has honored Babin with its Rusty Brooks Distinguished Service Award. Photo by Srijita Chattopadhyay/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services