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Our mission is to maintain and grow a Broad MSMR Advisory Board that represents a cross-section of business, industry, strategic organizations and industry associations. As is true with any leadership group, there is strength through a diversity of experiences and world-views.
The personal traits we are looking for in our board members include a passion for marketing research, a commitment to advancing the value of our work, a desire to improve the status of marketing researchers as senior strategists/advisors and a willingness to help develop the next generation of business and marketing leaders.
Our intent is to develop productive, long-term relationships with everyone who joins us, so they remain core contributors to the Broad MSMR program. Participation on the advisory board encompasses a variety of activities: participation in our thought leadership events; providing ad hoc marketing research projects; hosting our MSMR student internships; or even sponsoring your employees to attend the MSMR program.
These funds are used to assist with hiring MSMR students to work on marketing research projects for partnering companies and community organizations. These funds also assist our program in supporting more marketing research projects for companies and organizations, and offering more paid opportunities to MSMR students while they are attending this master’s program. These funds also help support and strengthen our relationships with partnering companies who advise our curriculum and hire our marketing research graduates.
The John Gongos Memorial Scholarship was established to promote the market research industry through the direct support of the MSMR program at Michigan State University. The scholarship was launched at the September 2012 MSMR Advisory Board Meeting.
John Gongos was founder and CEO of Gongos Research, Inc. until his untimely death in 2012 at age 51.
Gongos, of Rochester Hills, formed the marketing research firm in 1991 and built it into a $23 million company serving companies such as Hallmark Cards Inc., Best Buy Co., General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.
In 2007, the company was first named to Inc. magazine’s list of the 5000 “Fastest Growing Companies in America.” It is among the Honomichl Top 50 U.S. marketing research organizations. Gongos received his B.S. in marketing at Miami University–Ohio and his MBA in marketing and quantitative analysis at the University of Cincinnati.
Although he was from the state of Ohio, John held a deep place in his heart for Michigan. John said, “Our experience has been that if young people can find a great job in a field that they like, they will stay here. People really want to stay here if they find the right company.” He created that kind of company, with a unique culture that made it very attractive to MSU grads.
John and his firm were instrumental in helping found the Broad Master of Science in Marketing Research program. Gongos, Inc. continues to be a key partner in serving on the advisory board, providing internships and full-time jobs to MSMR students, and being an advocate of the program. The initiative for this endowment was started by Matt O’Mara, an MSU MBA grad, with support from the marketing research community.
John was a man of great vision for his firm and the industry, and, perhaps more importantly, he was a man of true integrity. His vision was consistent with the principles of the MSMR program:
“Our industry has changed more in the last five years than in the 15 years prior to that… It will probably change even more in the next five years.”