2025-26 Board of Advisors
The AMAF Board of Advisors is a group of volunteer leaders from marketing industry and academia who provide insight and guidance as the AMA Foundation supports the mission of the AMA and strengthens and elevates the marketing profession by advancing knowledge, building a global community of marketing leaders, and supporting marketing initiatives that drive innovation and societal impact.
Hami Vo Arrington | Chairperson
Hami Vo Arrington is a founder at One Foot Over, a B2B strategy and marketing agency and consultancy that works alongside CMOs and marketing executives to create strategies that bring results and solutions to their marketing problems.
Hami holds a BA in Public Relations and Marketing and an MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University. She is a past president of the American Marketing Association Houston Chapter, past president of the Women’s Masters Network, Leadership Houston Class XXXVII alumna, and Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas board member. Hami was also chosen to be an Ambassador for the Cohort 26 Alumni from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in Houston.
Aric Rindfleisch | Chairperson-Elect
Aric Rindfleisch (PhD, Wisconsin) is the John M. Jones Professor of Marketing and Executive Director of the Illinois MakerLab at the University of Illinois. He previously held faculty positions at several other leading institutions across the world, including the University of Wisconsin, University of Arizona, Tilburg University, Korea University, Yonsei University, Waseda University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Aric’s research, which currently focuses on technology and innovation, has been published in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, International Journal of Research in Marketing and Journal of Product Innovation Management, among others. Aric also teaches three popular Coursera classes (Marketing in a Digital World, The Digital Marketing Revolution, The 3D Printing Revolution), which have a combined total of over 600,000 learners across the world.
Kimberly Whitler | Immediate Past Chairperson
Kimberly A. Whitler (PhD) is the Frank M. Sands Sr. Associate Professor of Business at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Whitler’s research focuses on helping boards, CEOs, and CMOs better understand and leverage marketing for firm advantage. Her research won the 2023 Journal of Marketing’s Sheth Foundation Award, the 2020 Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Sheth Foundation Award, was a finalist for the Journal of Marketing’s 2018 MSI/Paul H. Root Award and won the 2017 Robert D. Buzzell Best Paper for research that had the most significant impact on marketing practice and thought.
Prior to becoming a professor, Whitler worked for nearly 20 years in marketing strategy, General Management, and Chief Marketing Officer positions. She is the author of Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value, and as a senior contributor for Forbes, has over 4.5 million views of her articles. Whitler has worked with a number of organizations, including the FBI, U.S. Department of Defense, The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, CEO-CMO Summit, PGAN Large Cap CEO Forum, Forbes’ CMO Summit, E. & J. Gallo, Gartner, MSI Trustee Meeting, among others. She attended the USAFA, has a BA from Eureka College, an MBA from University of Arizona, and an MS and PhD from Indiana University.
Michael Ahearne
Michael Ahearne is a Professor of Marketing and C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing at the University of Houston, where he also serves as the Research Director of the Stagner Sales Excellence Institute. Mike’s research focuses on enhancing the performance of salespeople and sales organizations. He has authored over 50 articles in prestigious journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Recognized by the American Marketing Association as one of the most research-productive scholars in marketing, his work has been featured in major publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, and INC Magazine.
Mike’s textbook, Selling Today: Partnering to Create Customer Value, is the world’s highest-grossing professional selling textbook, distributed in over forty countries and available in 15 languages. He has received numerous teaching awards at both the MBA and undergraduate levels in Sales, Sales Management, and Key Account Management. Mike was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Marketing Association for his contributions to education and practice in sales and sales management.
Shanita Akintonde
Shanita Baraka Akintonde is a highly respected global leader and sought-after expert in marketing communication, leadership, branding, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her company, ShanitaSpeaks LLC provides communication, leadership and diversity training.
With extensive knowledge and practical experience, coupled with her 23-year tenure as a professor and academic leader at Columbia College Chicago where she also served as founder and advisor for the award-winning AMA Chicago Collegiate Chapter for more than a decade. These skills combined with her marketing acumen, allow Shanita to bring a unique set of talents and abilities that will serve as a valuable resource for AMA, including her role in the Chicago chapter where she serves as the inaugural VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Shanita further showcases her business scholarship as a contributing author in three books, hosting the #1-ranked Marketing Insights podcast, and leading top organizations in marketing, advertising, public relations, allow her to stay at the forefront of industry trends and best practices.
This global leader’s ability to effectively communicate complex concepts, inspire teams, and foster collaborative environments has been instrumental in achieving exceptional results. A fashion-forward wife and mother, Shanita is a huge education access advocate and herself has earned three degrees: BA, Columbia College, MBA, Illinois Institute of Technology and M.Ed., Loyola University Chicago. She also holds a certificate in Leadership from Lake Forest College, Advanced Advertising, University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana and is a graduate of the 2nd Executive Leadership Program Cohort, Harvard University Business School.
How do you spell diversity, branding, and marketing communication expert? ShaniTaDa!
Tim Bohling
Tim Bohling is the founder and President of Bohling Consulting, and a Marketing Professor at Cornell University.
He authored the development and pioneered the implementation of the proprietary Smarter Marketing Playbook that is helping firms and institutions elevate brand equity and drive significant growth.
Tim is an accomplished consultant, global business leader, and scholar. In addition to leading Bohling Consulting, he has held several Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Graduate Enrollment Officer, and Vice President positions at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business, Georgia State University Robinson College of Business, IBM, HCL Technologies, and Stratasys.
Bohling holds a Doctorate in Business degree from Georgia State University and an MBA and BBA from the University of Houston.
Bill Cron
William Cron is Visiting Professor at the University of California-Davis; Guest Professor at Ruhr University – Bochum, Germany, and Professor Emeritus at the M. J. Neeley School of Business. During his 17 years at TCU, he has served as Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, the Deputy for Faculty Research at the Neeley School of Business and was the J. Vaughn and Evelyne H. Wilson Professor in Business. Professor Cron received a BSBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati and MBA and DBA from Indiana University, Bloomington. Before coming to TCU, he taught at Southern Methodist University for 22 years in the Executive MBA, Professional MBA, and Full-time MBA programs.
He served as Chairman of the Board of the American Marketing Association and during the past 30 years has served on the Boards of the American Marketing Association Foundation, the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA), the HIDA Foundation, Midmark Corporation, and Park Plaza Medical. Additionally, he was recognized as a Board Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Corporate Directors and served on the Board of the North Texas National Association of Corporate Directors. His consulting/executive development work in marketing has been with clients such as GTE, Samsung Electronics America, Haggar Apparel Company, Safeguard Business Systems, Johnson & Johnson Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Physician Sales & Service, Inc., VHA, Inc., and Baylor Health System.
His research on a variety of channels, sales force management, marketing research analytics, and veterinary medicine practice issues has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Classification, the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Harvard Business Review. Professor Cron has served on four editorial review boards including the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He has served as the president of the AMA’s Academic Council. He received the AMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 for his sales management research and has been recognized as one of the top ten leading contributors to the sales force research literature.
He co-authored Sales Management, for 10 editions and over 80 marketing and sales management articles and manuscripts. He has conducted marketing classes in China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and the Netherlands.
Lisa Gudding
Lisa Gudding has over 20 years of experience leading key domestic and global client relationships and sales teams for large insight supplier firms. She currently leads the Strategic Growth team at the global Public Opinion and Insights firm Ipsos.
Lisa is active in the Marketing and Insights industries. She has been on the American Marketing Association national board, Nominating and Finance committees, has led conference efforts, and was formerly on the Foundation board. She is on the board University of Wisconsin-Madison Marketing Leadership Institute. She is on the Insights Career Network advisory board (a nonprofit job-search and career group). She is a mentor via Menttium and Women in Research.
Lisa is quoted multiple times in Leonard L. Berry’s book Discovering the Soul of Service, and was featured in the Inc. article “Choose or Lose: Market Research and Forecasting.” She co-wrote the pieces “Activating Segmentation through Storytelling,” published by Quirk’s Marketing Research Review and “Hitting the Target—Innovating for Rising Target Groups” for Talk magazine. She has been a featured speaker on the Digging for Insights and Microsoft LinkedIn Selling podcasts. She’s a frequent speaker having presented at multiple events held by Argyle, Quirk’s, the American Marketing Association, the Advertising Research Foundation, Frost & Sullivan, IIR, and the Marketing Science Institute. She has been a guest instructor multiple times at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Minnesota, and at St. Olaf University.
Bill Pearce
Bill Pearce is a Continuing Professional Faculty member in the Marketing Group and the Institute for Business Innovation at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
Pearce is a senior executive with an outstanding track record of profitable business-building based on exceptional strategic, analytic, and financial disciplines. He has broad marketing and general management experience in both the consumer products and consumer service sectors. Pearce earned his undergraduate degree from Syracuse and then spent six years in sales at Miller Brewing and Coca-Cola USA. Desiring a career in general management, Bill earned his MBA from Cornell University
Bill has functional expertise in both sales and marketing, and is recognized as an inspirational leader who builds strong teams of direct reports and cross functional teamwork. Pearce ascended the marketing ranks at consumer goods companies including Procter & Gamble, Taco Bell and Del Monte, the latter two as Chief Marketing Officer. He built general management skills as P&L owner at every stop along the way in his marketing career with emphasis on driving Topline and bottom line growth.
Most recently, Pearce became Lead Board Director at Ooma (NYSE) and Chairman of VC-backed RichRelevance.
Rebeca Perren
Dr. Rebeca Perren is an Associate Professor of Marketing at California State University San Marcos. She earned her doctoral degree in Marketing from the University of Central Florida, her MBA from Stetson University, and her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of South Florida. Before entering academia, her professional experiences were very diverse, spanning from managing marketing activities for several firms in the skydiving industry to providing service and expert advice to financial advisors in the brokerage industry.
Her research focuses on consumption at the intersection of social and market domains, particularly those facilitated by technology. Dr. Perren has presented her research at numerous conferences. Her work has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, and the Journal of Promotion Management. She has co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Education focused on diversity in marketing education and the Handbook on Intra-Cultural Marketing.
Dr. Perren is the recipient of multiple fellowships and awards, including the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and the AMA Foundation Valuing Diversity Scholarship, and the AMA New Faculty Research Grant. Dr. Perren was the founding co-chair of the PhD Project Committee for Hispanic Excellence, an initiative focused on enhancing higher education completion rates for Hispanic students nationwide and recognized by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. She is one of the faculty advisors for the Marketing Doctoral Student Association (MDSA) and a board member of the Marketing Ethnic Faculty Association (MEFA). Dr. Perren was invited to participate in the inaugural PhD Project Advisory Council (PAC-15), an advisory group of 15 faculty members across business disciplines. Her college recently recognized her with the first Outstanding Service and Leadership award for her contributions to the campus and academic community.
Linda L. Price
Linda L. Price is Professor of Marketing and Dick and Maggie Scarlett Chair of Business Administration at University of Wyoming, her alma mater. She has been a participating member of AMA since she was a PhD student at University of Texas, over 40 years ago. As a newly minted assistant professor at University of Pittsburgh she served on the Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Chapter. As faculty and department head at several universities, she has engaged with many different parts of the broad AMA community, including, of course, the Academic Community. She served on the AMA Academic Council from 2012-2018, serving as President 2016-2017. Her long history of AMA service includes an active role on numerous award committees, AMA task forces, chairing conference tracks, and serving on the Editorial Review Board for AMA journals. She attended and participated in almost all the last 20 AMA Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortiums.
Linda’s record of service to the discipline extends beyond AMA. She also served on the Sheth Foundation Board from 2014-2020 and continues service on the advisory board for the Sheth Foundation. In addition, Linda served as President of the Association for Consumer Research in 2014, Editor of Journal of Consumer Research 2018-2020, and she has chaired several conferences for the Association for Consumer Research and Consumer Culture Theory Consortium and chaired several doctoral symposiums and consortiums. She also served on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Marketing Science.
Linda is the recipient of AMA awards including CBSIG Lifetime Achievement, American Marketing Association Fellow, and the AMA V. Kumar Doctoral Student Mentorship award. She has also been named Association for Consumer Research Fellow, Academy of Marketing Science Distinguished Educator, and Society of Marketing Advances Distinguished Scholar. Linda’s theory and multi-method research is published in top marketing journals and many of her papers are considered seminal and have introduced new constructs to the field. Her work has applications for services marketing, brand relationships, customer experiences and sustainability. Much of her scholarship has been published with her beloved PhD students that she has been blessed to work with, mentor and watch blossom and grow.