Massachusetts Business Roundtable recently welcomed Susan Fournier, Allen Questrom Professor and Dean at Boston University Questrom School of Business, as a member to the roundtable.
A trailblazer in her field, she is the first woman to serve as Dean at Questrom and the school’s first academic dean in over 40 years. Now in her 31st year as a marketing academic, Susan has spent 20 of those years at Questrom, where she has held several leadership roles, including Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Research and Director of the MBA and PhD Programs.
Before joining Questrom, Susan taught at Harvard Business School and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Her research has earned her recognition as one of the top 2% of scientific researchers worldwide, with over 36,000 citations on Google Scholar. She has received five major research awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in Consumer Psychology in 2021. Her seminal paper, Consumers and Their Brands, has been cited over 14,000 times.
Susan’s current research focuses on shareholder value creation through branding, consumer-brand relationships, brand risk, and person-brands. She is also the Founder, President, and Chairwoman of the Institute for Brands and Brand Relationships (BBR), an international organization dedicated to advancing branding research and practice.
Before transitioning to academia, Susan gained industry experience as Vice President at Young & Rubicam Advertising and held management and market research roles at Polaroid Corporation and Yankelovich Clancy Shulman. She holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Florida, an MS in Marketing from Penn State University, and a BS in Marketing from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.
The Massachusetts Business Roundtable (MBR) is composed of top executives from institutions that play a significant role in Massachusetts’ economy and public policy-making.
Driven by its members, MBR focuses on issues that broadly impact the social and economic well-being of the Commonwealth. Members contribute their expertise as CEOs and business leaders to shape policy discussions and solutions. MBR has been deeply engaged in policy work across key areas, including education, healthcare, competitiveness, workforce development, and social and infrastructure issues.