In Remembrance of Dr. Bob Taylor
It is with great sadness that we share this news: Dr. Bob Taylor passed away on March 12 after a short illness. Bob was an extraordinary colleague, friend and mentor to countless people throughout our college, university, Memphis and beyond. If you were lucky enough to meet (and even luckier to work with or be taught by) Bob, you knew how special you were to him; his generosity was matched only by his soft kindness and loving humor. Bob leaves a legacy of people profoundly touched by his wisdom and friendship. And his beloved MILE program that he founded with his dear friend Austin Baker will continue his lifelong commitment to educate and mentor others with dignity, compassion and genuine optimism. He will be greatly missed.
We asked our FCBE colleagues who were especially close to Bob if they wanted to share a few thoughts. Here is what they wrote:
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.
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!
Drs. Kristen Jones and Alex Lindsey published in Journal of Business and Psychology
Drs. Kristen Jones and Alex Lindsey published a paper in the Journal of Business and Psychology with current FCBE Management PhD student, Peyton Berry, and former FCBE Management PhD students, Drs. Devalina Nag (Texas Woman's University) and Dave Arena (University of Texas Arlington). In this paper, titled “Examining How Pressure to Disclose Personal Information During Job Interviews Backfires on Organizations,” they conducted two studies to introduce and validate the Pressure to Disclose Personal Information (PDPI) scale, which captures job candidates’ perceived compulsion to reveal personal or identity-relevant information unrelated to job performance. Study 1 used multilevel field data from academic job interviews, finding that candidates’ perceived PDPI during site visits reduced organizational attraction, likelihood of accepting an offer and intentions to recommend the organization to others one month later. Building on this, Study 2 replicated these patterns in a broader sample of professionals across diverse industries and found that PDPI more strongly undermined women’s attraction to the organization as compared to men. Collectively, these insights position PDPI as a consequential yet overlooked aspect of recruitment and demonstrate that protecting candidates’ privacy boundaries is essential for attracting and retaining top talent. For more details, the full paper can be accessed here.
Dr. Kristen Jones
Dr. Alex Lindsey
Dianne Moody is a great-grandmother
Dianne Moody, FCBE business officer, is a proud great-grandmother. Baby Avery came into the world on Saturday, February 28. Mother, father and child are well and adjusting to becoming a family of three. Congratulations, Dianne!
Dr. Kathy Tuberville served as mentor during Memphis Mentoring Monday event
The Fogelman Leaders in Action (FLA) Program was a co-sponsor of the local Memphis Mentoring Monday event with the Memphis Business Journal on February 23. Dr. Kathy Tuberville, FLA director and associate professor of Teaching in the Department of Management, served as a professional mentor for leaders in the workplace as well as UofM students. Over 100 professionals and students visited the UofM campus for this national event which was hosted by Southwest Airlines.
Dr. Kathy Tuberville
Dr. Subhash Jha was inducted as an editorial board member of JCP and was named recipient of the Tigers Ascending to Excellence award
Dr. Subhash Jha, associate professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, was recently inducted as an editorial board member of the Journal of Consumer Psychology (JCP). JCP is recognized as one of the 50 academic journals used by the Financial Times (FT), and it is classified as an A+ journal according to our college rankings.
Additionally, Subhash was a recent recipient of the Tigers Ascending to Excellence award due to his extraordinary leadership, commitment and service to UofM. As a part of his recognition, he was named the honorary coach at the UofM versus Tulane game on February 1.
Dr. Subhash Jha
Dr. Zabihollah Rezaee accepted for publication
Dr. Zabihollah (Zabi) Rezaee, Thompson-Hill Chair of Excellence and professor in the Crews School of Accountancy, recently had two papers accepted for publication. The first paper titled, “Leveraging environmental management accounting and green ambidexterity for competitive advantage: A natural resource orchestration view,” was accepted for publication by Accounting Forum. To read the complete piece, click here. His second paper titled, “Corporate Trust Language and Its Impact on Information Transparency in an Emerging Market,” was accepted by the Spanish Accounting Review.
Additionally, his new textbook, “AI for Sustainable Business: Leveraging Technology for a Better Future,” was recognized as a distinguished contender for March’s Active Reader Challenge Cycle.
Dr. Zabihollah (Zabi) Rezaee