The fan mail just keeps coming in for Marketing Professor Paul Busch, who recently was given a Regents Professor Award.

“Since the award has been announced, I have received numerous notes, emails and visits from family, friends, neighbors and colleagues, which has been an especially heart-warming experience,” Busch says.

(L to R) Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Chairman Richard A. Box '61, Paul Busch, Ann Busch, Regent Phil Adams '71
(L to R) Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Chairman Richard A. Box ’61, Paul Busch, Ann Busch, Regent Phil Adams ’71

In a career that spans four decades, Busch is in his 25th year at Texas A&M, including 10 years in administrative and academic leadership as department head.

Busch was one of two faculty members from the College Station campus of the Texas A&M University System selected for the award. It recognizes Busch’s outstanding contributions in the areas of scholarly research, teaching, service to the institution and the marketing profession as well as administrative contributions.

Busch describes his teaching philosophy and approach as revolving around three core concepts: caring, student engagement in the learning process and the students’ career and personal development.

Distinguished Professor of Marketing Rajan Varadarajan, head of the marketing department, nominated Busch for the award. He says Busch has excelled in scholarly research, teaching, service to the university and the marketing profession, and administration. “Dr. Busch belongs to an exclusive group of faculty members at Mays Business School who consistently excel in teaching at multiple levels and is sought after to teach in multiple programs (e.g. BBA, MS, EMBA, Center for Executive Development Programs, Center for Entrepreneurship and New Ventures Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities),” Varadarajan wrote. “His record of distinguished teaching and service is complemented by important contributions to marketing scholarship (as evidenced by his publications in the flagship journals for dissemination of scholarly research in marketing such as the Journal of Marketing and Journal of Marketing Research) and supervision of doctoral dissertations as chair and member of doctoral dissertation committees.”

He cited several of Busch’s accomplishments and contributions in the areas of teaching and service:

  • 2008: Texas A&M University Association of Former Students University Level Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching
  • 2007: Texas A&M University Association of Former Students College Level Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching
  • 2008: Mays Business School Faculty Fellowship for Teaching Innovation
  • 2002: Texas A&M University Fish Camp namesake

He teaches and helps coordinate the marketing component of the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities sponsored by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship.

Dean Jerry Strawser praised Busch in a message about a report Busch submitted on the Center for Executive Development Review Committee, saying he felt compelled to single Busch out rather than praise the entire committee. “I believe that such a note would not justify your extraordinary effort. This was one of the most thorough and conscientious efforts that I have seen on a center review in my nine years at Mays.” Strawser went on to say Busch’s work on the project “set a very high mark for other committees to follow.”

Busch said he was “extremely pleased and honored” to have Varadajan’s support for the award, and that he was impressed with the thorough and rigorous process for the selection.

“On a personal level, it provided an opportunity for me to reflect on my 25 years at Texas A&M, regarding my teaching, research, and administrative and other service roles that I’ve played,” he says. “It was a powerful reminder of what a developmental and supportive culture we enjoy as faculty members here at Texas A&M.”

Busch calls the Nov. 3 reception and dinner at the Hagler Center for the honorees “truly a night to remember … I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the other Regents Professor Awardees, members of the Board of Regents and the top executive team from the university. It was extra special because my wife, Ann, and I were accompanied by my daughter, Jennifer Busch Walzel ’93 and my son John ’97.”