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A Lifetime of Achievement

A Lifetime of Achievement

USC Marshall marketing scholar Debbie MacInnis wins USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award
02.14.22
Debbie MacInnis
Deborah MacInnis, the Charles L. and Ramona I. Hilliard Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Marketing. 

How does one surprise a leading scholar who has won every award and honor her field bestows? Nominate her for recognition by the university she spent nearly 30 years at (but don’t tell her!).

Recently retired USC Marshall marketing professor Deborah MacInnis, the Charles L. and Ramona I. Hilliard Professor of Business Administration, has been chosen for a 2022 USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award.

This award is given to a select number of retired faculty at the annual Academic Honors Convocation. It recognizes eminent leaders in academic fields of research and notable contributions to the University, the profession and the community.  MacInnis retired in December 2021 after nearly 30 years at USC Marshall.

“This is an incredible honor that I never expected,” she said. “I am so grateful to my marketing colleagues at USC and in the field of marketing who (unbeknownst to me) wrote letters in support of my nomination.”

MacInnis is the only woman to have been made a Fellow in the top three associations for marketing scholars: the American Marketing Association, the Society for Consumer Research and the Association for Consumer Research.

Professor MacInnis’ career is one of distinction, not only in terms of her intellectual impact in the discipline, but also in terms of the academic heritage she has left with her students, colleagues and institution,” said Professor of Marketing and Department Chair Anthony Dukes. “USC has made a remarkable advancement of its academic reputation over the past three decades. Professor MacInnis, who joined USC in 1994, must be credited for her part in USC’s now-elite status. Her remarkable career as a professional scholar exemplifies USC’s greatest ambitions.”

MacInnis joined Marshall after earning her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh and launching her early career at the University of Arizona, Tucson.  

An expert in consumer emotions, MacInnis is the author of the seminal textbook Consumer Behavior, now in its seventh printing. She has published in all the leading marketing journals and served on the editorial boards of many, and she has been invited to present her research at conferences across the country. She has more than 31,000 Google Scholar citations.

In addition to being a recognized scholar in her field, MacInnis was also a favorite teacher, in 2010 winning the Golden Apple Award, an award voted on by students. She has also contributed service to the Marshall community, serving as both vice dean for research and strategy and vice dean for undergraduate programs, in addition to other administrative roles. In 2016, she won a USC Mellon Mentoring Award for her work mentoring faculty.