Williams-Qualls-Spratlen (WQS) Award
Multicultural Mentoring Award of Excellence

(Nomination deadline extended to June 4, 2010)

Background
The Williams-Qualls-Spratlen Multicultural Mentoring Award of Excellence (WQS) carries on the legacy of three world class marketing scholars, educators, and mentors of people of color: Jerome Williams, F.J. Heyne Centennial Professor, Department of Advertising, at the University of Texas at Austin (UT); William (Bill) Qualls, Professor of Marketing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Thaddeus H. Spratlen, Emeritus Professor of Marketing, at the Foster School of Business, University of Washington. Mentorship is one of the most important determinants of a successful career in marketing, yet it is often a component of career development that, while prized by recipients, is rarely rewarded. In recognition of the value the field of marketing places on mentorship, the WQS Award recognizes the outstanding mentors in the market community in the molds of Williams, Qualls, and Spratlen.

The purpose of the WQS Award is to encourage and reward outstanding mentors in the academic marketing community. Individuals receiving this Award will have demonstrated exceptional ability in guiding the academic and/or professional growth of his/her students and junior colleagues in marketing. Award recipients will have had a sustained career commitment to mentoring as well as a significant positive impact on their mentees’ careers. Moreover, through their mentees, they will have advanced research and education on issues where racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity intersect with the discipline and practice of marketing. By recognizing and rewarding such efforts, this Award can help to make a difference in facilitating the success for students and emerging scholars by encouraging and recognizing the contributions of outstanding marketing scholars who have helped to create opportunities for success.

Eligibility, Criteria & Process for Nominations
The award will be given to a marketing professor from an underrepresented group who has made research contributions in terms of publications in leading journals, and should also be making teaching contributions as a mentor to underrepresented students and professors of color in the field of marketing.

It is anticipated that the award recipient will have had a sustained career commitment to mentoring, a significant positive impact on his/her mentees’ careers, and through his/her mentees have advanced research and education on issues where racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity intersect with the discipline and practice of marketing.

The call for nominations and application will be available March 1, 2010 and will close on June 4, 2010. All nominations must be made using the online application found at the top of this page and self-nominations will not be reviewed. All nomination materials must be submitted at one time using the online form (you can not save the nomination form and return at a later date). The below answers/items will be needed in order to submit a nomination.

• Nominee and nominator contact information
• Summary of the nominee's research accomplishments focusing on how their work has advanced research and education on issues where racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity intersect with the discipline and practice of marketing
• Summary of the nominee's mentoring accomplishments. For the purpose of this award, mentoring is defined as the process of guiding, supporting, and promoting the training and career development of others. The key roles of a mentor include, but are not limited to providing: Intellectual growth and development, Career development, Professional guidance, Advocacy, and Positive role modeling
• Attached vita of nominee
• Attached letter of recommendation from the nominator
• Attached letter of recommendation from a current or past graduate student of the nominee
• Attached letter of recommendation from a marketing faculty colleague of the nominee, which could include the nominee's department chair, a colleague from the nominee's current college/university, or a colleague from another college or university.

Prize
The recipient of the Williams-Qualls-Spratlen Multicultural Mentoring Award will be honored with a $5,000 honorarium and plaque at the Ph.D. Project dinner held in conjunction with the AMA Summer Marketing Educators' Conference (August 13-16, 2010; Boston Marriott Copley, Boston, MA).

Award Committee
The selection committee will consist of five members drawn from the AMA Academic Council (2) and the AMA Diversity and Marketing Special Interest Group (SIG) (3).