Frank Bass

Infobox_Person | name = Frank M. Bass
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birth_date = 1926
birth_place = Cuero, Texas
death_date = December 1, 2006
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occupation = Academic, Director of PhD programs at University of Texas, Dallas
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website = http://www.frankmbass.org
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Prof Dr. Frank M. Bass (1926-2006) was a leading academic in the field of marketing research, and is considered to be among the founders of Marketing science. He became famous as the creator of the Bass diffusion model that describes the adoption of new products and technologies by first-time buyers. He died on December 1, 2006.

Bass was a pillar in the effort to bring a more rigorous quantitative approach to the solution of marketing problems. His research contributions over a 52-year career in academics and private consulting range widely over a broad set of marketing issues. Using models and advanced statistical techniques often adapted from economics and the social sciences, he made fundamental contributions that revolutionized the way marketing was taught in universities and applied in business. He was a leading voice in the marketing science movement and one of the most frequently cited marketing researchers in professional journals and other scolarly publications.

Bass grew up in the small town of Cuero, Texas (population 6,770 in 2005). After completing his MBA at the University of Texas, he became interested in marketing issues. In the late 1950s he was selected to become a Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Basic Mathematics For Application to Business. It was this exposure to advanced analytic methods that heavily influenced his research for the next 47 years.

Bass had a keen, albeit wry, sense of wit and he often surprised students and faculty members alike with his humorous observations and comments. He enjoyed an active social life and relished summers spent at his vacation home overlooking Lake Travis near Austin, Texas.

History

Academic education

* 1949 Completed BBA, Southwestern University
* 1950 Completed MBA, University of Texas
* 1954 Completed PhD, University of Illinois

Career

*1946 Completes two year period in US Navy
*1951 Assistant in marketing, University of Illinois
*1954 Assistant professor in marketing, University of Illinois
*1957 Assistant professor in marketing, University of Texas
*1959 Fellow, Institute of Basic Mathematics For Application to Business, Harvard University
*1961 Professor of Industrial Administration, Graduate School of industrial administration, Purdue University
*1969 Published landmark paper on modelling consumer goods, which became widely known as the Bass diffusion model
*1974 Appointed as Loeb Distinguished professor of marketing at Krannert Graduate school of management, Purdue University
*1982 Appointed Eugene McDermott professor of management, University of Texas, Dallas
*1986 Awarded the Paul D. Converse Award
*1990 Awarded the Richard D. Irwin/American Marketing Association Distinguished Marketing Educator Award
*2005 Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia named in honour of Frank Bass
*2005 Frank Bass awarded honorary Doctorate of the University of South Australia

Publications

* [http://www.frankmbass.org/fmb/downloads/FMB-VITA-05a%20R.doc List of publications]

References

*http://www.frankmbass.org/fmb/downloads/FMB-VITA-05a%20R.doc

ee also

*Bass diffusion model
*Product forecasting

Links

*http://www.frankmbass.org/fmb/fmb.aspx
* [http://www.MarketingScience.info/ Ehrenberg-Bass Institute]