David C. Schmittlein

We write with great sadness to share that David C. Schmittlein, the former John C Head III Dean (2007-2024) and a Professor of Marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, passed away on March 13, 2025.

As Dean, Schmittlein’s focus was to broaden MIT Sloan’s global visibility, to work with the faculty in creating new high-quality management education programs, to develop enhanced educational opportunities for current students, and to develop and disseminate business knowledge that has impact and that will stand the test of time. He also engaged the many members of MIT’s alumni community to gain their valuable insights on MIT Sloan and management education.

Prior to his appointment at MIT Sloan, Schmittlein was the Ira A. Lipman Professor and Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1980 until 2007. He also served as Interim Dean during July 2007 and as Deputy Dean from 2000 to 2007, and was chair of the editorial board for Wharton School Publishing. His research assessed marketing processes and developed methods for improving marketing decisions. He was widely regarded for his work estimating the impact of a firm’s marketing actions, designing market and survey research, and creating effective communication strategies.

Schmittlein served as a consultant on these issues for numerous firms, including American Express, American Home Products, AT&T, Bausch & Lomb, Boston Scientific, Ford Motor Company, Gianni Versace S.p.A., Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Revlon, Siebe PLC, the Oakland Raiders, The Quaker Oats Co., and Time Warner. His work was published in leading journals in marketing, management, economics, and statistics. In addition, he was an area editor for Marketing Science and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Interactive Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Letters, and Marketing Science.

Schmittlein was an Honorary Professor at the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. He served on the Asia School of Business Board of Governors; the Governing Board of the Indian School of Business; the International Advisory Board of Lingnan (University) College of Sun Yat-sen University; the Advisory Board for the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University; and the International Advisory Board for the School of Management, Fudan University. He served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Marketing and Branding. He was a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Economics at Tokyo University and a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis. Schmittlein received awards for his research, his editorial work, and his teaching. His observations and research were cited often in the popular press, including AdAge, Businessweek, China.com, Computerworld, Fortune, NPR’s Marketplace, People’s Daily Online, Reuters, The Economist, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today.

Schmittlein held a BA in mathematics from Brown University and an MPhil and a PhD in business from Columbia University.