- Can you provide us with some information about your background? Your education and career?
I am from India. I came to the United States as a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, where I did my MBA, as well as my Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences. I joined Columbia University in 1963 as a Post Doctoral Research Associate and went to MIT in 1965 but returned back to Columbia University in 1966.
I joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1969 as an Associate Professor of Marketing. I left UIUC in 1984 to go to the University of Southern California where I started a Center for Telecommunications Management in the Marshall Business School. I left USC in 1991 and joined Emory University. I continue to be on the faculty of the Goizueta Business School and hold the Charles H. Kellstadt Professorship in Marketing.
- Tell us how you kept connected to the University of Illinois since your time as a faculty member?
I have remained connected with the University in several ways. First and foremost is the endowment of the Sheth Distinguished International Awards. This is for an international student who returned back to his or her country and has done exceptionally well. A similar award is given to a University of Illinois faculty member who has made significant impact in the international arena in his or her discipline. These awards are organized by the Office of International Affairs. A second area of the endowment of the Sheth Award to a doctoral student in marketing. I believe it supports four years of education.
Finally, both my wife, Madhu Sheth, and I founded the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth Foundation, which the University of Illinois Foundation was helpful to us and our advisors in establishing.
- You and your wife established a named international alumni award, the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement. Can you explain what compelled you to do so, and what you hope your philanthropy accomplishes for the University?
The International Award was created for three reasons. The University of lllinois at Urbana-Champaign has a great legacy of providing world class research-based education to foreign students across all the disciplines. However, when the graduate (often a Ph.D.) goes back to his or her country, they can get disconnected. This is partly because they are back home and we may or may not have their contact information in our databases. Similarly, we have world class faculty--including top scientists and scholars--who have offered their expertise to many countries, especially in emerging markets in areas such as agriculture. Also, Illinois faculty have published textbooks and research monographs which have a worldwide audience.
This award provides not only recognition of what is already being done but it also serves to help encourage others to think globally. The main objective of the Sheth Award is to invite back the highly distinguished alumni to “come back home to Illinois” and meet his or her mentors and advisors. The awardee also delivers a lecture to the faculty and students in their home department.
If you look at the roster of past recipients, you can see that they are all world-class and have made a difference, not only in their own country, but globally. I believe the Sheth International Awards enhance the University’s reputation locally and internationally.
- What advice can you share about how to make a lasting impact at the University of Illinois?
The best way to make a lasting impact is to immerse oneself in the academic community, extend hands across disciplinary silos, and take pride in what the institution has done for you. While those of us who are faculty are all grateful to our own alma mater, we often forget that the greatest impact on our scholarly careers and achievements is the university by which we are employed, a university that provides deep resources and invests in you and your success.
In my own case, Illinois offered me opportunities in governance, leadership and developing future policy through committee assignments. As faculty, I gained many experiences at the University of Illinois with respect to interdisciplinary research, teaching, and above all, serving the institution through faculty governance roles.
- What is your favorite University of Illinois memory?
My favorite memory about the University of Illinois is the humility of the world class faculty, giants in their respective fields such as John Bardeen (Nobel Prize in Physics), Ledyard Tucker (Psychometrics), Harry Triandis (Cross Cultural Psychology), Charles Osgood, Martin Fishbein, Morton Weir, Govinjee Ranga Rao, and countless others.
Many were not only my colleagues, but also my neighbors and friends. In fact, I have always believed that you can have a good university anywhere, but great universities are always in an isolated community or in campus towns. Examples include, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Lund, Berkeley, Stanford, and so on. This is because campus towns create a level playing field between colleagues across disciplines, your academic colleagues are also your neighbors and their children go to the same school as your children do. The emotional bond is much deeper in a campus town.
To learn more about Professor Sheth’s work you can visit his website at jagsheth.com.