Julie L. Ozanne named Sonny Merryman Inc. Professor of Marketing

Julie L. Ozanne, professor of marketing in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, was appointed the Sonny Merryman Inc. Professor of Marketing by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting March 31.

The Sonny Merryman Inc. Professorship was established in 1998 by Sonny Merryman Inc. and Floyd W. Merryman III to attract and retain eminent scholars in the Pamplin College of Business. The professorship is awarded to an outstanding member of the Pamplin faculty who will retain the title until retirement or departure from the university.

Ozanne has been a member of the marketing faculty at Virginia Tech since completing her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985. She was promoted to associate professor in 1992 and full professor in 2005.

Ozanne has a distinguished record of achievement in research and teaching. For 20 years, she has challenged orthodoxy in consumer research and has focused her research on interpretive — particularly critical — approaches to the study of consumer behavior. Three of her published articles are considered classics in the field. She co-authored journal article, “The Low Literate Consumer,” received the prestigious 2006 Robert Ferber Award. She was a Visiting Erskine Scholar at the University of Canterbury last year.

As a teacher, Ozanne regularly receives the strongest student evaluations in the department. She has received 13 teaching awards, including the university’s William E. Wine Award in 2000. She has chaired seven dissertation committees and has served on 17 other thesis and dissertation committees.

Ozanne received her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.

Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, business diversity, electronic commerce, organizational performance, and services innovation. The college, committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students, is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (Class of 1933), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (Class of 1964). Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.