Emeritus professor within the Department of Marketing at Strathclyde, Michael J. Thomas, has died (January 30) after a battle with cancer.Emeritus professor within the Department of Marketing at Strathclyde, Michael J. Thomas, has died (January 30) after a battle with cancer.
He began his career as a market research manager at Metal Box in London in 1957, moving into academia in 1960 with his appointment at the University of Syracuse School of Management in New York before returning to the UK in 1971 to head the School of Management at the University of Lancaster.
He moved to Strathclyde in 1987, where his research focussed on Michael J. Thomasnew paradigms in marketing, the ethics of professionalism in marketing and management, and marketing measurement.
Michael was a visiting professor at Birmingham University, a former chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and president of the Marketing Research Society from 1999 to 2004. He was made a fellow of the society in 2003. On awarding the fellowship, the MRS described him as "an eminent academic who has contributed enormously to the theory and practice of marketing, and to the professions related to marketing".
He was involved in the creation of CIM's overseas branches in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. He also taught on the CIM programmes in Poland where he helped create a new Polish Chapter. He was awarded an Order of Merit by the Polish government in 1994 for his work in management education and contribution to the economic transformation of Poland, and received an OBE in 1999 for services to management education and training.