WASHINGTON, DC—May 15, 2019—The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is pleased to announce its 2020 Sales Doctoral Student Grant Program recipients. Molly Ahearne from the University of Georgia and Scott Hachey from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa were each awarded grants that will help Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited doctoral granting institutions build, recruit and retain the next generation of aspiring sales-focused faculty and scholars. Molly is working with Dr. John Hulland and Scott is working with Dr. Nathan Hartmann.

“All of us at DSEF congratulate Molly and Scott,” DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins said. “We recognize the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on sales programs across the country and the disruption on education broadly. We are pleased to award doctoral sales grants for a second year running.”

Dr. Fernando Jaramillo, (Chair, Marketing Department, Professor and Associate Dean for Students and Programs, University of Texas at Arlington) and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, (Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College) administered the grant program, along with Huggins and DSEF Senior Director of Academic Initiatives, Kimberly Harris Bliton.

“Now more than ever, funding for innovative new research on best practices for direct selling is of the utmost importance,” said Marshall. “The DSEF Sales Grant program recognizes and rewards the best of the best of next generation sales scholars whose work can positively impact direct selling practices well into the future.”

The grant recipients were selected from a pool of applicants who submitted proposals relevant to the direct selling channel, DSEF and Direct Selling Association (DSA) member companies. Over a four-year period, the recipients will receive $4,000 to develop and execute a research project focusing on a topic of relevance for DSEF and DSA member companies.

DSEF’s 2019 Doctoral Sales Grant recipients Carissa Harris, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jen Riley, Kennesaw State University, will receive grant disbursements from 2020 through 2022.

ABOUT DSEF

For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with 240 professors in a variety of disciplines—including sales, marketing, management, economics, ethics and entrepreneurship—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2018, retail sales from direct selling were more than $34 billion annually and currently there are 6.2 million direct sellers building full-time or part-time businesses in the United States.

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Three Prominent Academics Recipients of the Direct Selling Education Foundation Circle of Honor Award

Dr. Victoria L. Crittenden, Babson College; Dr. Linda Ferrell, Auburn University; and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, Rollins College Recognized for Outstanding Achievement

Washington, DC—June 2019— The 2019 inductees into the DSEF Circle of Honor are Dr. Victoria Crittenden, Professor of Marketing and Babson Research Scholar at Babson College; Dr. Linda Ferrell, Marketing Department Chair and Professor of Marketing at Auburn University; and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, The Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing & Strategy at the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. All three sit on DSEF’s Academic Advisory Council and have held seats on its Board of Directors.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) announced the recipients of its highest honor at the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, on June 3, 2019. Created in 1988, the DSEF Circle of Honor recognizes direct selling industry leaders and academics who have made extraordinary contributions to the Foundation through personal efforts, involvement, and commitment to the mission and purpose of DSEF.

“For decades Vicky, Linda and Greg have brought significant value to the Foundation and the industry through their expertise, thought partnership and extensive networks,” said Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director. “Since 2016, when DSEF introduced a three-year plan to deepen our relationships with the academic community, the three have worked tirelessly to help us grow our Fellows program, publish direct selling-related research, include direct selling in textbooks, launch a new Doctoral Sales Grant Program, and help shape the vision for the Foundation of the future.”

Dr. Crittenden has published extensively on Strategic Marketing, Business Research, and Personal Selling. She’s currently the Collections Editor for Digital Social Marketing and Advertising; and Editor of the book, Go To Market Strategies for Women.

Dr. Ferrell has published research on the Sharing Economy and Supply Chain Management; Direct Selling: High Touch Embraces, High Tech, and Understanding Business Ethics; CSR, and Brand Attitude.

She also co-authors several leading textbooks, including: Introduction to Business, and Business Ethics; and Business and Society.

Dr. Marshall led the launch of DSEF’s new Doctoral Sales Grant Program, which provides recipients with a valuable research or dissertation opportunity and recognizes the integral role that sales excellence plays in the ongoing success of the direct selling channel. He also co-authors the textbook Marketing: Real People, Real Choices.

Huggins said that Drs. Crittenden, Ferrell and Marshall played an integral role in helping exceed the Foundations’ three-year goals, helping educate more than 70,000 university students about the direct selling channel of distribution and building the DSEF Fellows Program to more than 200 academic leaders across the country.

ABOUT DSEF
For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 200 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, sales, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2018, retail sales from direct selling were more than $35.4 billion annually and currently there are more than 6.2 million U.S. entrepreneurs selling in either a part-time or full-time basis, and more than more than 36.6 million people actively buying through the direct sales channel.

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Direct Selling Education Foundation Awards
New Doctoral Sales Grants

Carissa Harris, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Jen Riley, Kennesaw State University Named Grant Recipients

WASHINGTON, DC—May 15, 2019—The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is pleased to announce its 2019 Doctoral Sales Grant Program recipients. Carissa Harris from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jen Riley from Kennesaw State University were each awarded grants that will help Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited doctoral granting institutions build, recruit and retain the next generation of aspiring sales-focused faculty and scholars. Clarissa is working with Dr. Ravi Sohi and Dr. Blake Runnalls, and Jen is working with Dr. Brian Rutherford.

“All of us at DSEF congratulate Clarissa and Jen,” Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director, said. “The Foundation’s Sales Doctoral Student Grants Program not only provides recipients with a valuable research or dissertation opportunity, it recognizes the integral role that sales excellence plays in the ongoing success of the direct selling channel.”

Dr. Fernando Jaramillo, (Associate Dean for Students and Programs, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Texas at Arlington) and Dr. Greg W. Marshall, (Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College) administered the grant program, along with two members of the DSEF leadership team.

“The number and quality of the submissions on this initial round of the grant program really speaks to the robust nature of sales academic community,” said Marshall. “Fernando and I want to thank DSEF for providing this opportunity for these two doctoral students’ research projects to receive funding, and we’re excited about the potential for their work to enhance the field of direct selling.”

The grant recipients were selected from a pool of applicants who submitted proposals relevant to the direct selling channel, DSEF and Direct Selling Association (DSA) member companies. Over a four-year period, the recipients will receive $4,000 to develop and execute a research project focusing on a topic of relevance for DSEF or one or more DSA member companies.

ABOUT DSEF

For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 200 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, sales, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2017, retail sales from direct selling were more than $34 billion annually and currently there are more than more than 18 million people involved in direct selling in the United States.

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Rowan University’s Eric Liguori Appointed to the Direct Selling Education Foundation’s Academic Advisory Council

Nina Krey and Renee Watson Named DSEF Fellows

WASHINGTON, DC—May 2019—The Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Eric Liguori, William G. Rohrer Professorial Chair in Entrepreneurship and Executive Director, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Rowan University, to the Foundation’s Academic Advisory Council (AAC), whose mission is to strengthen DSEF’s connection to the academic community and advance the understanding of the direct selling business model, value proposition and the industry’s commitment to ethical entrepreneurship.

“Dr. Liguori will be a valuable addition to the AAC,” DSEF Executive Director Gary Huggins said. “He’s at the national forefront of entrepreneurship education, and his experience in entrepreneurship teaching, research and publishing will bring new insights to the AAC, as the Council advises DSEF leadership on the development of cutting-edge academic initiatives.”

The Foundation is also pleased to announce that two Rowan University faculty members have been named DSEF Fellows. Dr. Nina Krey, Assistant Professor of Marketing, and Ms. Renee Watson, Faculty Lecturer, will join more than 200 academic leaders who work with DSEF and industry executives to gain deeper insights into the direct selling channel of distribution, both as a go-to-market business strategy and pathway to micro-entrepreneurship.

ABOUT DSEF
For more than 40 years, DSEF has partnered with members of the academic community to support research and education programs. These programs expand the knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles of direct selling. The Foundation works with more than 200 professors in a variety of disciplines—such as entrepreneurship, marketing, ethics, sales, consumer studies, business and economics—to develop direct selling-related academic research, case studies and teaching content. In 2017, retail sales from direct selling were more than $34 annually and currently there are more than more than 18 million people involved in direct selling in the United States.

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DSEF recently asked its Fellows to share their experiences using the Foundation’s teaching content, research and case studies in the classroom. Here are a few highlights:

“My students have pointedly benefited from DSEF case materials. The Big Data video is highly insightful and garners substantial discussion. The Cocoa Exchange case, particularly the related video, is wonderful for discussing corporate social responsibility, women’s empowerment and direct selling.”

Dr. William F. Crittenden
Professor, International Business and Strategy
Northeastern University

 “The students relate to selling Cutco because of Vector’s business model of using college students to sell the products. I am thrilled with the opportunities to bring experiential learning into my classroom and students gain real world skill sets which will help them in their careers.”

Dr. Wendy Ritz
Assistant Teaching Professor- Marketing
Florida State University Panama City

“As a DSEF Fellow, I have had amazing opportunities to engage with direct selling industry leaders, and it has really helped shape my research agenda. I was able to develop a teaching case that connected my research interest in effectuation and social entrepreneurship with the founders of Trades of Hope and was awarded a research grant at my university.

As a bonus, many students were introduced to the direct selling distribution channel as an avenue for social entrepreneurship and considered it in the development of their own social enterprise.”

Dr. Christine Mollenkopf-Pigsley
Assistant Professor & Program Director- Applied Organizational Studies
Minnesota State University Mankato

“The DSEF pedagogical support materials address real-world, timely marketing practices. I am able to leverage the articles and case videos in highly-engaging discussions about the increasing role of disintermediation in marketing channels. I also use the materials to reinforce how direct selling is an inextricable opportunity in the ‘Gig Economy.’ This is important because my students are likely engaged in the Gig Economy.”

Dr. Lou Pelton
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of North Texas

DSEF launched the Fellows Program to support educational and research efforts to foster a deeper understanding of the direct selling channel and its impact. We now have more than 180 Fellows around the world from a wide range of disciplines – management, marketing, economics, entrepreneurship, sales, consumer studies – and provide them a rich offering of benefits and opportunities.

DSEF warmly welcomes our newest Fellows:

Dr. Deanne Brocato
Associate Professor of Marketing
Utah State University

Dr. Mark Leach
Professor of Marketing in the Marketing and Management Department
University of Wyoming

Dr. Joshua Bendickson
Assistant Professor of Marketing and USASBE’s Board of Directors Member
University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Dr. Nina Krey
Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing and BIS
Rowan University

Ms. Charla Brown 
Lecturer of Marketing
Troy University

Dr. Brittney Bauer
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Loyola University New Orleans

Dr. Lukas Forbes
Professor and Director in the Department of Marketing
Western Kentucky University

Dr. John “Ricky” Fergurson
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Sales
Indiana State University

Dr. Neeraj Bharadwaj
Associate Professor of Marketing
University of Tennessee

Dr. Renee DiCiano
Faculty Lecturer
Rowan University

Dr. Sterling Bone
Associate Professor of Marketing
Utah State University

Dr. Keith Richards
Associate Professor of Marketing
Baylor University

Dr. Jeff Vanevenhoven
Irvin L. Young Professor of Entrepreneurship
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater

Ms. Nicole Beachum
Instructor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Maria Petrescu
Associate Professor of Marketing
Nova Southeastern University

Dr. Elise Harvey
Assistant Professor of Marketing
University of South Carolina Upstate

Dr. Ernan Haruvy
Professor of Marketing
University of Texas at Austin

Mr. Ted Shalek
CFO, Pennybryn and Instructor of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality/Tourism
University of North Carolina Greensboro

Dr. Steven Cox
Professor of Marketing
Queens University of Charlotte