Eller Chair of Service-Dominant Logic Created

I am pleased to announce the creation of a new chair within the Eller College of Management, the Eller Chair of Service-Dominant Logic. This chair is funded by a generous, multi-year gift from Karl and Stevie Eller, and will reside within the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. The gift supports a partnership between the Eller College of Management, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom (the “Freedom Center”), and was established to provide opportunities between the Eller College and the Freedom Center to integrate ethics and other studies of the economic and moral foundations of free societies. 

The Eller Chair of Service-Dominant Logic was named in honor of Robert Lusch, who for many years was the Executive Director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, and who with Stephen Vargo pioneered research in service-dominant logic. Bob is retiring in January 2017, and the chair will commemorate both his award-winning academic contributions to the fields of marketing and entrepreneurship, and his tireless service in support of the McGuire Center. 

David Schmidtz, Kendrick Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona and founding director of the Freedom Center, will be the first chair holder. David is a world-renowned researcher who works primarily in the areas of ethics, environmental philosophy, rational choice, and political philosophy. He holds a courtesy appointment in the McGuire Center, and most recently has worked extensively with Bob Lusch on a multi-year program to train Sudanese teachers in economics, ethics, and entrepreneurship in an effort to advance a free economy in the Sudan. 

We are proud to formalize our relationship with David Schmidtz and welcome him to the McGuire Center community of faculty, mentors, and scholars. We are delighted to be a part of supporting his research and outreach efforts and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship. 

Joseph P. Broschak, Ph.D.
McGuire Center Executive Director