When you ask distinguished marketing scholar V. Kumar what he is currently working on, his answer is almost every hot topic.

From the beginning of his research career, the constant has been his curiosity to solve business problems across several industries by looking at things from a fresh perspective and developing new models and methods to accomplish that when needed.

He now brings that curiosity and experience to Brock University’s Goodman School of Business, where he has been appointed as a Professor of Marketing and the Goodman Academic Industry Partnership Professor. Kumar joins Brock from the Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University in New York, where he started a new Master of Science in Marketing Intelligence program and engaged the faculty with co-authored publications.

His work focusing on rigour — the developing of new methods — and relevance to the business world has led to the publication of more than 300 scholarly papers and 30 books, and has earned him more than 25 research and teaching excellence awards.

“Where I am today is serendipity,” Kumar said. “No one plans their career. It’s a consequence of what you’ve done that brings you to where you are. If I were to say I got here because of my efforts that wouldn’t be true, my actions were important, but I had a launch pad.”

Kumar credits the mentors he had at each stage of his academic career, from his PhD advisor Professor Robert Leone at the University of Texas at Austin to corporate founders, doctoral students and academic colleagues for acting as a launch pad for various parts of his career development. It’s that culture of support and collaboration that he’s excited to bring now to Goodman.

“I cannot ask for a better opportunity than this,” Kumar said. “The people and leadership at Goodman and Brock University is one of the main reasons I’m enthusiastic about working here.”

He noted the business school’s multinational student body and their thirst to learn cutting-edge topics for making the world a better place as another key reason he was excited to move his research program to Brock.

His distinguished career has earned him accolades, including being selected by SAGE publications as a one of eight ‘Marketing Legends,’ being inducted to the inaugural class of the United States Analytics Hall of Fame in 2019, named a Fellow of the American Marketing Association (AMA), recognized as the Cutco Vector Distinguished Marketing Educator by the Academy of Marketing Science, and recipient of both the Charles Coolidge Parlin Award and Paul Converse Award from the AMA. As a way of honouring his contributions to student mentorship, the AMA has instituted the V. Kumar Doctoral Student Mentorship Award funded by many of his former doctoral students.

Goodman Dean Barry Wright said Kumar’s passion for research and commitment to mentorship align perfectly with the School’s vision of being a leading business school in scholarly activities and practice and is thrilled that Kumar chose Goodman for the next stage of his distinguished career.

“Dr. Kumar’s is a trailblazer who has made exceptional contributions in the field of marketing, we are honoured to welcome him to our School,” Wright said. “His innovative research and dedication to quality will inspire both faculty and students alike, further fuelling a culture of intellectual curiosity.”

But Kumar isn’t one to rest on his laurels, he’s looking forward to bringing his managerial-focused research to Canada, working in the areas of new technologies such as A.I., blockchain, robotics, drones and machine learning; covering the financial services, telecom, retail and hospitality industries; and continuing his research on international marketing, sales management and personal selling.

“I’ve done this in the United States and a few countries worldwide, but now I’m looking forward to replicating and enhancing this approach with Canadian businesses,” he said.

Kumar has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Marketing from 2014-18, served as the department editor of Production and Operations Management and as a consulting editor of the Journal of International Business Studies.