Topics: Miller College of Business, Alumni
April 3, 2009
The director of Ball State University's nationally recognized professional selling program has been recognized as one of the nation's top educators.
Ramon Avila, director of Ball State's H.H. Gregg Center for Professional Selling and the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of marketing, has been named a distinguished sales educator by the University Sales Center Alliance (USCA).
The award honors sales educators for their consistent, long-term and outstanding contributions to the quality and advancement of sales and sales management education at the college and university level.
Avila was recently recognized at the National Conference in Sales Management in Norfolk, Va. Formed in 2002, The organization's mission to advance the sales profession through academic leadership, education, research and outreach.
Rodney Davis, interim dean of the Miller College of Business, called Avila the quintessential teacher and scholar.
"No one is a better sales teacher than Ramon because his research record is extensive, and it has provided much work that has advanced professional sales literature," Davis said. "His service is incredible, including countless professional, community and charitable activities. Ramon bleeds cardinal red and white, and he has been a respected campus leader for many years."
Avila earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Ball State and received a doctorate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He joined Ball State faculty in 1984 and received the university's Outstanding Faculty Award in 2003.
In 2008, Avila was named the Hormel Foods Master Teacher of the Year, sponsored by the Marketing and Management Association in Chicago. He received a Leavey Award in 2002 from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa., recognizing him for innovation in the classroom with an advanced professional selling class.
By Marc Ransford, Senior Communications Strategist