Fogelman Features - April 2026

Bob was a connector. He always brought people together. Genuine friendships really mattered to Bob.

Whenever I think of Bob Taylor, the word "helpful" leaps to mind. Whenever I needed a guest speaker, I'd go to Bob. Through the MILE program, his creation, he knew, it seemed, everybody. Bob was a genuine people person. He was always eager to help a colleague. If you couldn't get along with Bob Taylor, you couldn't get along with anybody. "Nice" doesn't begin to do him justice. He was a true friend. I miss him. I shall always remember Bob fondly.

There were many dimensions of Bob Taylor. Over the 43 years I knew Bob with each of us in various roles in the Fogelman College, I got to see several of them. I was chair of the Management Department when Bob joined the faculty in 1983 (I think?) after completing his doctorate at LSU. Over many years, Dr. Taylor was an effective and popular faculty member, teaching organizational behavior and leadership courses. He seemed to really hit his stride with professionals and managers in the Executive MBA Program and in numerous career development programs both in the US and abroad. Interestingly, I was Bob’s boss for years, and then later he was my boss when he was Department Chair! Though Bob and I were occasionally not on the same page, he was a respected and valued colleague and friend over the years. Perhaps my strongest impressions of Bob are his outgoing and friendly demeanor, his sense of fairness to colleagues, his inclusive and generous spirit and his ongoing support and concern for his students.

Bob, Irv Tankersly and I have taken road trips over the past four years to baseball parks to see games in the early part of the season. We've been to Atlanta (Braves), St. Louis (Cardinals); and Cincinnati (Reds). In fall of 2025, at lunch one day Irv indicated he had never been to Wrigley field to see the Chicago Cubs play. Bob went into what I call his "cruise director" mode and started suggesting all sorts of options for a baseball trip, insisting that Irv's impending 80th birthday needed such an observance. In May of last year, Bob Taylor; Bob Wamack (one of Bob's close friends); Irv Tankersly and I went on a seven-day road trip to:

• St. Louis to see the NY Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals
• Chicago to see: Houston Astros vs. Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs
• Milwaukee to see the Houston Astros vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The St. Louis game was rained out, but we made the other three games. Bob T. was in good spirits and totally focused on making sure everyone was having fun and not bored. We had a great trip, which wouldn't have happened if Bob T. hadn't taken the lead on organizing and encouraging the trip.

Probably more detail than you wanted to know, but I ate lunch with Bob T. the Friday before he passed and the realization that he is not with us is still hard for me to grasp.

All I can say is, Bob was my closest and dearest friend. And he will be missed deeply.

Bob Taylor was a friend that will be missed and remembered every day. It’s not that Bob was an overpowering loud personality, rather he was much more likely to provide an encouraging word, a listening ear, an expression of kindness and concern for friends and family as well as those he barely knew.

His kindness and caring ran deep in his being and was obvious to those who knew him as a friend or colleague. He invested substantial amounts of his life in sharing his accumulated wisdom and experience with those seeking to learn and trying to open doors of opportunity for others whenever and wherever he could. I was fortunate enough to observe and be a small part of one of his significant efforts to assist students as they were studying and preparing for a career in business. Many years ago, Bob created the Memphis Institute for Leadership Education, better known as the MILE Program, within the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. This program still exists and continues to bring local industry leaders in contact with aspiring Fogelman College students many years beyond Bob’s retirement. Participating students get a rare opportunity to meet, observe and interface with talented successful people. The program creates an environment where leadership mentoring happens and that, in turn, builds a positive, enduring learning experience for students as they are beginning their professional careers. Of the hundreds of student participants in the MILE program, essentially all are living proof of its validity and contribution to their lives—and this is just as Bob Taylor would have it to be!

Bob was a generous individual in many ways. Generosity wasn’t something he practiced for show or recognition but something he deeply believed in and did on a consistent basis. He carefully selected organizations to receive his contributions based on their ability to satisfy needs in the lives of those less fortunate. He helped family, friends, students and others without keeping score or seeking recognition. That’s who he was—a genuinely caring, generous human being with a kind heart and a helping hand.

Bob’s caring and compassionate ways set a high standard that I and others can attempt to emulate, and I have become a better person because of being his friend and colleague for those many years. To say that he will be missed is an understatement of great magnitude and it’s quite obvious that our world would be a much better place if more people were more like Dr. Bob Taylor!