“I develop projects that put students’ knowledge into action.”  That’s how Dr. Bruce Alford, the Max P. Watson Jr. Endowed Professor and associate professor of marketing in the Department of Marketing and Analysis, describes his approach to teaching marketing classes. Bruce says that he works to integrate different strategies to aid student learning and strives to give his students real world experiences in the classroom.  “For example, my Integrated Marketing Communications class always has a client that has a communication problem and the student groups are the consultants that develop a promotional campaign to address the problem.  In this way, students learn the concepts and base knowledge of the subject and then put that to work in the promotional campaign.  At the end of the quarter, the students present their campaigns to the client.  The clients ask questions of the students and leaves with a lot of information and numerous samples developed by the students.” Bruce received his undergraduate degree in Marketing from the University of West Florida and PhD in Marketing from Louisiana State University.  He taught at the University of Evansville for 5 years, Mississippi State University for 3 years, and Louisiana Tech for 12 years and counting. Bruce’s current research interests are online auctions, reference prices, and measurement issues. When asked about his research focus, Bruce commented, “One theme that runs through my research is what I refer to as the “So what” question.  I guess it may be due to my mechanic and manufacturing background, but I like to undertake research that I can see an application for in the business world.  The best manifestation of this is the Journal of Retailing article ‘Can Retailers Get Higher Prices for End-of-Life Inventory Through Online Auctions.’  The paper dealt with end-of-life inventory, inventory that is being removed from the retailers’ shelf and needs to be disposed of.  Our paper assessed the factors influencing the use of online auctions to liquidate the end-of-life inventory.  The paper had a good balance of theory and practitioner application and I think that appealed to many readers.” Bruce received the Emerald Management Reviews 2005 Citation of Excellence for the article. This award is given to the top 50 articles from Emerald’s article-review database of 15,000 articles. Bruce has received a long list of awards and recognitions.  He has received research awards from the Academy of Marketing Science and the Society for Marketing Advances. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and is a reviewer for the Journal of Retailing. He has also been a track chair for the Academy of Marketing Science, Society of Marketing Advances, and Marketing Management Association conferences.  Bruce has published his work extensively in a variety of journals. Prior to attending LSU for his doctorate, Bruce worked in manufacturing management for a textile company named Milliken & Company as a production supervisor.  He also worked as a certified automotive technician for three years, specializing on Saab vehicles. Originally from Florida, Bruce has been married for 26 years to his wife Anita, and has one son Daniel, who is on the golf team at Ruston High School.  Daniel aspires to play collegiate golf for Coach Jeff Parks at Louisiana Tech.  Bruce enjoys caddying for Daniel when he plays on the Arrowhead Junior Golf Tour in Louisiana. Bruce has developed a strong rapport with students and often interjects humor in his classes to relax the students and to encourage more interactions by way of comments and questions.  “I think this allows them to see their instructor in a different way, as more than just a professor.  They see another human side of me.” Thanks, Bruce, for making a difference for our Marketing students!