David Schmittlein

David Schmittlein is an American academic and administrator specializing in marketing science and management. He is best known for his tenure as the John C Head III Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he significantly expanded the school's global influence and academic programs. His scholarly work focuses on statistical models for customer behavior, new product forecasting, and marketing strategy.

Early life and education

Schmittlein completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then pursued graduate education at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he received both a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in marketing. His doctoral research laid the groundwork for his later contributions to stochastic models and Bayesian statistics in marketing applications.

Academic career

Following his doctorate, Schmittlein joined the faculty of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he became a prominent professor of marketing. His research during this period, often in collaboration with colleagues like Donald Morrison, advanced the field of customer lifetime value modeling. In 2007, he was appointed as the Deputy Dean at Wharton, overseeing its MBA program and playing a key role in its executive education initiatives before his move to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MIT Sloan School of Management deanship

Schmittlein served as the Dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management from 2007 to 2023, one of the longest tenures in the school's history. Under his leadership, MIT Sloan launched several new degree programs, including the Master of Business Analytics and the Master of Finance. He oversaw the construction of the MIT Sloan Building E62, a state-of-the-art facility designed by Moore Ruble Yudell, and significantly expanded the school's presence in Asia and the Middle East through partnerships like the MIT Sloan Asia Conference and collaborations with Masdar Institute.

Research and publications

Schmittlein's research is highly cited in the marketing literature, particularly his work on the Beta-geometric/NBD model for customer base analysis. He has published extensively in top-tier journals such as Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, and Management Science. His influential papers often address repeat purchasing, salesforce management, and the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, contributing to the foundation of modern data-driven marketing.

Awards and honors

For his contributions to the field, Schmittlein has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards. He is an elected Fellow of the American Marketing Association and the Informs Society for Marketing Science. He is a recipient of the Paul D. Converse Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Marketing Association for outstanding contributions to marketing. He has also served on the editorial boards of leading academic publications including the Journal of Consumer Research and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. Category:American academics Category:MIT Sloan School of Management faculty Category:Marketing academics