Dr. Leonard Berry Receives 2024 Texas A&M Foundation Partner in Philanthropy Award
Butch Ireland Photos
The Texas A&M Foundation has selected Dr. Leonard Berry as the latest recipient of the annual RA “Murray” Fasken ’38 Partner in Philanthropy Award. Mr. Berry is a University Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Regents Professor and holder of the MB Zehr Chair in Retail and Marketing Leadership in the Mays School of Business, and was recognized for his dedication to Texas A&M University. He received this award in April.
Established in 2016 by the Foundation's Board of Directors, the Partners in Philanthropy Award recognizes Aggie faculty and staff nominated by members of the Texas A&M Foundation Development Team. This selection is based on the recipient's dedicated and sustained participation, commitment, and creative leadership in philanthropy at Texas A&M.
“Dr. Berry is a great champion of the power of philanthropy, and the university could not ask for a better ambassador,” said Foundation Chair Gina Luna '95. “His passionate efforts benefit the important programs and initiatives that keep Texas A&M University, and specifically the Mays School of Business, at the forefront of higher education.”
Berry was nominated by Kathy Mahoney ’15, senior director of development at the Texas A&M Foundation, which works with the business school. “For many years, Dr. Berry has been a transformational partner for the Foundation and the Mays School of Business,” Mahoney said. “He is always thinking of ways to work with the development office to make a difference.”
Berry's colleagues emphasized that he has exemplified the Aggie core value of selfless service throughout his career. “Dr. Berry's career epitomizes philanthropy in its most primitive form. He has dedicated his life to giving his time, talent, and treasure to improve the lives of others. ” said Nate Sharp, dean of the Mays School of Business. “His extraordinary career, contributions, and giving mindset have had a profound impact on students, faculty, administrators, alumni, employees, and the public.”
Forward-thinking retail, healthcare research
Dr. Leonard Berry and his wife Nancy, former Mayor of College Station
Butch Ireland Photos
Professor Mays joined Texas A&M in 1982 as the founding director of the Mays Center for Retail Research (CRS). His vision for the center, which included recruiting and preparing students for the retail industry and building strong partnerships with major retailers, impressed Morris “MB” Zele, whose Corporation awarded the center the first grant. provided. “Under Dr. Berry's leadership, the Center's reputation has grown as a premier hub for developing hard-working students with the knowledge of what it takes to succeed in the retail industry,” said the legendary said Donald Zale '55, the son of a businessman.
Over the years, the Seels continued to deepen their relationship with Center and Berry. When MB Zeel passed away, his family established his MB Zeel Chair in retail and marketing leadership for the school. The chair was awarded to Mr. Berry, who used a portion of the funds to establish MB Zale Leadership Scholars, a major undergraduate professional development program for Maze students studying retail trade.
A noted researcher, Berry was one of the pioneers of services marketing and helped invent the term “relationship marketing.”
He also made a major impact on the healthcare industry after spending a professional development sabbatical at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in 2001. His groundbreaking research in marketing health care has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Journal of Oncology Practice. Berry is currently a senior research fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, where she researches improving cancer care services for patients and their families.
Award-winning results
As a result of his groundbreaking research, Berry is the most cited faculty member in the Texas A&M University System, with 251,307 citations on Google Scholar as of April 2024. Throughout his career, he has co-authored ten of his books. Best-selling book “Management Lessons Learned from the Mayo Clinic.''
In recognition of Berry's significant contributions, he became the second individual in history to receive each of the “Big Four” National Marketing Awards from the American Marketing Association. He has also received numerous teaching awards, including the University Outstanding Lecturer Award, the Teaching Excellence Award, and the Presidential Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching. Most recently, he was named the recipient of the 2024 Southeastern His Conference Faculty Achievement Award at Texas A&M.
Hoping to further expand Mays' leadership in services marketing, Berry and his wife, Nancy Berry, made the Leonard Berry Professor of Services Marketing Endowment in 2021. This gift marks the first endowed chair established by a current faculty member at Mays. “It's important to me that the marketing department continues to make lasting contributions to this field,” Berry said. “The chair we have endowed ensures that there will always be a senior marketing professor specializing in services marketing.”
The couple also organized a gift to support the business school. “The gift we are planning will go to the marketing department, which has been my academic home for over 40 years,” Berry said. “Whatever success I have had, I owe in large part to my talented and supportive colleagues in the marketing department and Mays School of Business. Even after leaving the faculty, I want to give back.”
charity partners
Being selected as the 2024 Partner in Philanthropy Award recipient came as a surprise to Berry. Berry credits his parents with teaching him the importance of “paying it forward.” “This is a particularly meaningful recognition because philanthropy is a core value of mine and I have never won an award for it in my life,” he said. . “It's reward enough to be able to help others.”
Recipients of the Partner in Philanthropy Award will receive $10,000, which they can use to advance research, education, or lead in their chosen field. What is unique is that Berry and his wife plan to donate these funds to support university programs. “Philanthropy makes the difference between mediocrity and excellence. State and federal funding only gets you halfway,” he explained. “At Maze, we aim to be the best public business school in the nation. Philanthropy is essential to realizing this ambitious goal.”
Foundation President and CEO Tyson Felkel '96 thanked Berry for his years of service and contributions to Aggieland. “Dr. Berry's passion for philanthropy and dedication to improving this university is unparalleled, and the Foundation is truly honored to recognize his transformative work,” he said. Ta. “A caring, ambitious and service-minded individual like Dr. Berry is a gift to society, and we are fortunate to have him as a partner in building a brighter future for Texas A&M.”
