Advanced Degree Ceremony Speaker
Friday, May 9 – 6:00 p.m. at Chartway Arena
John B. Ford, Ph.D.
Professor of Marketing and International Business and Eminent Scholar, Â鶹´«Ã½
Dr. John Ford is a distinguished Professor of Marketing and International Business, Eminent Scholar, and Haislip-Rohrer Fellow at Â鶹´«Ã½ (Â鶹´«Ã½) in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Ford earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Georgia. Since joining Â鶹´«Ã½ in 1985, he has demonstrated an impressive commitment to academia and community service.
Throughout his tenure at Â鶹´«Ã½, John has been deeply involved in committee work across the departmental, college, and university levels. He has chaired several strategic planning committees for the Strome College of Business and co-chaired the Branding, Marketing, and Communication Committee for Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s most recent Strategic Plan. His dedication to service has been recognized with the Strome College of Business Service Award, which he has received three times.
Beyond the university, John has made significant contributions to non-profits in the region, assisting them with strategic planning. For the past thirteen years, he has also served on the Steering Committee for Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, overseeing the $14 million renovation of its buildings and grounds.
John’s research interests lie in cross-cultural perceptual studies, focusing on areas such as advertising, branding, nonprofit organizations, and research methodology. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, several books, and numerous book chapters. From 2014 to 2022, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advertising Research and now serves as the Associate Editor for Advertising at both the Journal of Business Research and the Italian Journal of Marketing. His work has appeared in leading marketing and international business journals, earning him the Strome College of Business Research Award four times. Additionally, John is a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science and serves on its Board of Governors and on the Executive Committee as the Co-Director of International Programs.
Before embarking on his academic career, John gained extensive industry experience as an account executive and municipal bond specialist at Watling, Lerchen, and Company in Detroit, Michigan; a bank trust officer at Manufacturer’s National Bank of Detroit; a sales manager for import-export firm Gentrex Company in Detroit; and a management consultant and executive recruiter specializing in mergers and acquisitions with the Blunt Company, Detroit.
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Undergraduate Main Ceremony Speaker
Saturday, May 10 – 9:30 a.m. at S.B. Ballard Stadium
Meagan Good
Award-winning Actress, Director, and Producer
Meagan Good can be seen in the lead role in Tracy Oliver’s series Harlem for Amazon. She was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Harlem.
She also recently starred as the lead role in the feature Divorce in the Black directed by Tyler Perry for Amazon, as well as the Lifetime movie Forever opposite Taye Diggs, set to be released Saturday, August 24th.
She can be seen in Shazam 2 for Warner Brothers/DC opposite Zach Levi and Helen Mirren. The first film grossed over $365 million worldwide. The sequel was released globally on March 17, 2023.
Meagan can recently be seen starring in Day Shift opposite Jamie Foxx for 8711 and Netflix. The film is a big-budget action comedy about vampire hunters. The intention from Netflix is a large-scale trilogy with Meagan continuing on as a central figure throughout.
She had two wide theatrical releases in 2019 as the co-lead in The Intruder for Sony/Screen Gems opposite Michael Ealy and Dennis Quaid. Meagan also has a flashy supporting role in Sony Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter opposite Milla Jovovich.
On the TV side, Meagan has previously been the lead of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi drama Minority Report for FOX and the lead in Deception for NBC. She also had a flashy recurring role on Californication opposite David Duchovny, which she reprised for Tom Kapinos on White Famous.
Prior to that, Meagan starred in the Think Like a Man franchise, which grossed over $170 million and earned her a Teen Choice Award Nomination. In 2013, Meagan starred in Anchorman 2, in which she played Ron Burgundy’s (Will Ferrell’s) boss and love interest. The film grossed nearly $175 million.