Marisabel “Mari” Romero, associate professor of marketing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business, was recently honored with the 2025-2026 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.

Teaching Students to Apply Their Learning to Business Problems

Romero, who holds a doctorate in marketing from the University of South Florida, joined the Haslam faculty in 2022. Teaching in both the undergraduate marketing program and the Master of Science in Marketing program, she places a heavy emphasis on experiential learning in her classes.

“I try not only to teach the students the concepts, but also how they can apply them to a real-world problem,” Romero explains. “I offer many classroom activities in which they’re engaging firsthand and applying what we just learned to a problem. Throughout the semester, students work towards building shared applied knowledge across all the concepts they learn in class.”

Alex Zablah, head of Haslam’s Department of Marketing and Gerber/Taylor Distinguished Professor and Kinney Family Faculty Research Fellow, praises Romero as an exemplar of the quality of instruction the award is meant to promote.

“Dr, Romero is exceptional in the classroom,” he says. “She is thoughtful in how she approaches each lesson, sets high expectations for her students and always draws a connection between class content and its relevance to their careers as future marketing professionals. Dr. Romero is unique in her ability to connect with students — whether a class of 50 or 90, she makes it a point to know each student by name, which ultimately allows her to reach students in a way most faculty can’t. We are fortunate to count on her as a member of the Haslam faculty.”

Continuing 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 support 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.

Romero thanked the Herring family, saying she feels the accolade is an affirmation of her dedication to students and to teaching.

“I am incredibly honored to be named the Herring Fellow because I have such a passion for my students and for the classes I teach,” Romero says. ” I feel this honor is a recognition of all the time and effort I put into guiding students to engage with the material and understand it while also giving them a personalized learning experience. This award is motivation for me to continue to deliver to my students the best learning experience I can. I thank the Herring family for funding this fellowship that recognizes faculty members’ work with our students, which is at the center of everything we do at Haslam.”

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CONTACT:

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