Horizons Fall 2013

Art Weinstein , Ph.D., professor and chair of marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, has spent years researching, writing, and teaching about customer value. He has written a book on it entitled, Superior Customer Value: Strategies for Winning and Retaining Customers , and developed a course for the M.B.A. program, Delivering Superior Customer Value, that more than 10,000 NSU students have taken. Weinstein’s students and col- leagues agree that his philosophy of putting customers first is not just a strategy he preaches for businesses, but one that he practices as a successful marketing professor and mentor. His dedication to his students and to the continued innovation of the marketing programs and courses offered at the Huizenga School earned him the school’s Faculty of the Year award for the third time in 2012. He was the first recipient of the award in 1997, and he won it again in 2004. While Weinstein is humble about his trio of awards, his former students indicate it is well deserved. “There are three important characteristics that define great scholars, mentors, and teachers: the ability to exemplify— practice what they teach; the desire for their pupils not to just simply emulate their values, but to go beyond, even surpassing them; and the delight they take in seeing their protégés excel. These define Art Weinstein’s very nature, goodwill, and integrity,” said Donovan A. McFarlane, Ph.D., a professor at DeVry University. Hilton Barrett, D.B.A., a business administration professor at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, credits Weinstein with helping him move from a business career into a second career in teaching. He says Weinstein mentored him through com- pletion of his dissertation and during his first teaching jobs. Together, they authored numerous published articles. “I believe that I would not have accomplished even a portion of these milestones without the support of Art Weinstein,” Barrett said. “He has enabled me to have my dream of a twilight career in teaching. He has counseled me as a researcher, professor, and administrator. My life has been much more complete because of Art Weinstein.” Weinstein didn’t plan to have an academic career. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida, he worked for A.C. Nielsen, a global marketing re- search firm. At the same time, he worked on an M.B.A. at Florida International University (FIU). That led to an opportunity to run a small business development center and a chance to teach at FIU. “I got into the academic environ- ment and really enjoyed it,” Weinstein said. Still, he viewed himself as a business person. “In my job, I was providing training and consulting for small businesses.” As he began working on his doctor- ate at FIU, the marketing life gave way to an academic career, blending his passions for business, research, and teaching. He held a teaching position at Hofstra University in New York, and then headed back for a warmer climate to take his position at NSU’s Huizenga School, where he has been for 19 years. 30 HORIZONS Three-time Faculty of the Year Winner Practices What He Preaches BY ELLEN WOLFSON VALLADARES Art Weinstein discusses a marketing plan with students Margori A. Perez, left, and Nathalie Hernandez. Both students have earned high-profile internships.