Michael R. Bowers, Ph.D.

“Providing a bridge between academic experience and business excellence is what makes the job exciting for me. A hallmark of the Rollins MBA is practical applied learning, supported and enlightened by present day business thinking. Students benefit, the business community benefits when they meet as part of the Rollins family.”

Michael R. Bowers is a Professor of Marketing and the Academic Director of the Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship. The Center has twice (2008, 2009) been recognized as one of the top 25 graduate programs in the country by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review. He also serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Rollins College chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization (CEO) and is the Chairman of the Board of First Movers, a student managed Florida Corporation. In the spring of 2012, Dr. Bowers visited the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand as the J.A. Valentine Fellow. In 2009, Mike completed a sabbatical project working as the Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Orb, a second stage software company competing in the gaming industry.  Dr. Bowers serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Rollins College chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization (CEO) and is the Chairman of the Board of First Movers, a student managed Florida Corporation. 

Dr. Bowers works extensively with startup and second stage companies as they develop their business and growth models.  Mike is asked to speak at events around the world, in 2010 making a series of presentation on entrepreneurship at EuroMed University in Marseilles France. He has also lectured at the Catholic University of Portugal – Lisbon. In addition, he has conducted several sales, marketing and strategic planning conferences for prominent banks, health care systems, other businesses and professional associations around the U.S.

Until August 2003 Michael served as Chair of the Management, Marketing and Industrial Distribution Department and a tenured Professor of Marketing in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a secondary appointment in the Department of Health Administration, School of Health Related Professions. Dr. Bowers was also a Senior Scientist in the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE) and a Senior Scholar in the Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education at UAB.  While at UAB, Michael taught a class in high technology entrepreneurship and helped lay the foundation for the Initiative of Life Sciences Entrepreneurship (ILSE). The ILSE was a program shared with the School of Business, the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine at UAB.

Dr. Bowers’ research interests include entrepreneurship, product/quality management, customer loyalty, management of organizational innovation and strategic planning, primarily in service industries.  He has published over 50 articles in several journals including: the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Services Marketing, the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the American Journal of Medical Quality, Medical Care Review, Hospital and Health Services Administration, Health Care Management Review, the Journal of Health Care Marketing, the Journal of Retail Banking and the Journal of Marketing Education. He served as a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of Health Care Marketing from 1990 to 1997. He serves as an active reviewer for several journals including the Journal of Service Research and the Journal of International Entrepreneurship. Michael has written several articles for magazines such as Bank Marketing and The Bankers Magazine. Michael was a co-author of the book Bankers Who Sell.

Dr. Bowers has received several awards for teaching and research including the 1996 UAB Presidents Award for Teaching Excellence and the 1990 Ingalls Award for outstanding educator at UAB. Dr. Bowers’ teaching interests are in entrepreneurship, marketing strategy, services marketing, sales management and health care marketing. 

Dr. Bowers received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Texas A&M University in 1985. Mike was a Doctoral Consortium Fellow for the American Marketing Association.  He is a member of Alpha Mu Alpha and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary societies.  Michael is an active member of several professional associations including the American Marketing Association, and the Academy of Marketing Science.
 
Before beginning his doctoral studies, Michael was an instructor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he also received his MBA.  Prior to beginning graduate work, Dr. Bowers was employed for three years with Ortho Pharmaceutical as a sales representative. He received several sales awards in this position. Michael received his BA degree from Florida State University.

Expertise
Entrepreneurship, Product/Quality Management, Customer Loyalty, Organizational Innovation, Strategic Planning, Marketing Strategy, Services Marketing, Sales Management, Health Care Marketing

Degrees Held
BA, Florida State University
MBA, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Ph.D., Texas A & M University

Contact
Office Phone: 407-646-1534
E-mail: mbowers@rollins.edu   
Office Location: Bush Executive Center/Crummer Hall, Rm. 306A