Ruta Ruzeviciute, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business, was honored with the 2024-2025 Lee and Allison Herring Endowed Teaching Fellowship in Marketing. The fellowship recognizes marketing professors for their outstanding commitment to student learning and excellence in teaching.

Ruzeviciute, who completed her doctoral studies at Vienna University of Economics and Business, joined the Haslam faculty in 2021. Her teaching areas include consumer insights, emphasizing digital innovation and advanced tools for conducting consumer research.

Alex Zablah, head of Haslam’s Department of Marketing, Gerber/Taylor Distinguished Professor and Kinney Family Faculty Research Fellow, called Ruzeviciute a stellar example of the caliber of teaching the award is intended to promote.

“Ruta is passionate about marketing and about ensuring her students grasp the nuances of the discipline,” Zablah said. “She brings an energy to her classrooms that elevate the discourse, and her recognition with this award is richly deserved.”

Ongoing Support for Marketing Faculty

Allison Herring (HCB, ‘19) was a marketing major and member of the Lady Vols golf team, and her mother, Lee, holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in marketing. The Herring family endowed the teaching fellowship in 2020 to give back to Haslam and honor outstanding faculty in the college’s marketing department. In early 2024, the Herring family committed additional support for the college, establishing the Lee and Allison Herring Endowed Research Award in Marketing.

Ruzeviciute called receiving the Herring Endowed Teaching Fellowship a significant honor. “Being awarded this fellowship is truly one of the most important professional acknowledgments, which I feel very humbled by,” she said. “While research is a critical part of my professional career, teaching and sharing knowledge is at the core of my personal mission. This honor inspires me to continuously innovate my teaching and redouble my efforts to positively impact the lives of my students as well as to continue to contribute to the Department of Marketing and the Haslam College of Business. It is profoundly moving to know that the Herring family has such positive experiences with Haslam that they choose to benefit current and future students with this fellowship.”

CONTACT:

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Scott McNutt, business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu