THE FORUM

Dean Debra Ringold Named JELD-WEN Chair in Free Enterprise


Salem, ORE – May 6, 2008 - Debra Ringold, professor of marketing and dean of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University, has been named as the first recipient of the JELD-WEN Chair in Free Enterprise effective May 1.

The JELD-WEN Chair, funded by the JELD-WEN Foundation of Klamath Falls, Ore., was established in 2007 to advance scholarship and research opportunities for Willamette students, additional academic institutions and community groups committed to the study of free enterprise. The $2.5 million gift from JELD-WEN is the largest gift in history of the Atkinson Graduate School of Management.

“In her 14 years at Atkinson,” said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton, “Debra has earned significant recognition for her exceptional teaching and research and for her leadership skills and community service. With the unanimous support of her colleagues at AGSM, she was the clear choice for this honor.”

Rod Wendt, president and chief executive officer of JELD-WEN Inc., said of the appointment, “Debra Ringold is recognized around the country for her outstanding work in public policy issues and their implications for target marketing, consumer beliefs about advertising, and health claims in advertising. Her work has focused on issues that have real consequences for consumers. We cannot think of a better choice for the JELD-WEN Chair in Free Enterprise.”

Ringold teaches courses in public, nonprofit, and private-sector marketing, marketing research, marketing communications, and marketing and public policy. She was honored as the Administrator of the Year at Willamette University in 2005. Her teaching awards include the United Methodist Award for Exemplary Teaching and Community Service (2002) and the Jerry E. Hudson Distinguished Teaching Award (1997). She has also completed Georgia State University’s Master Teaching Program.

Her research has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Consumer Policy, Advances in Public Policy and Marketing, Psychology and Marketing, American Behavioral Scientist, and numerous conference proceedings including Advances in Consumer Research. She is the 2004 recipient of the Thomas C. Kinnear/ Journal of Public Policy and Marketing Award for outstanding research.

Ringold has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing since 1991 and is currently serving a three-year term as the journal’s associate editor. She was elected to the board of directors of the 38,000-member American Marketing Association in 2000. She completed her term as chairperson of the AMA Board of Directors in July 2007.

The dean was recently appointed to a three-year term on the Advisory Council to the U.S. Census Bureau. She will advise the bureau on ways to encourage census participation, improve its data collection methodology and help the general public utilize and understand census data.

Her recent clients include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Anheuser-Busch Companies, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Hewlett Packard.

The JELD-WEN Foundation focuses on giving in the communities in which the company operates. In the past five years, the foundation has given more than $33 million.

For More Information:

• JELD-WEN, inc.
• The JELD-WEN Foundation
• The Campaign for Willamette
• Debra Ringold Faculty Website