Dr. Solomon Dutka, outspoken advocate for the application of scientific principles in the field of marketing research and co-founder of Audits & Surveys Worldwide, died on August 7th at his home in Riverdale, N.Y., due to complications from a stroke. He is survived by his wife, Joyce, stepsons David, Barry and Stephen Fried and his sons James and Michael Dutka.
The Marketing Research Association announced its 1999 National and Chapter Awards at its annual conference in Boston in June. The Distinguished Service Award was given to Sharon Mutter, president of Sharon Mutter Field Sources, Carmel, Ind., in recognition of "extensive and distinguished service to both the association and the marketing research industry." The Award of Excellence is given in recognition for excellence in service for the current year at both the
National and Chapter levels. This year the award was presented to two members, a first-time occurrence for the association. The winners were Val Maxwell, president, National Data Research, Inc., Northfield, Ill., and Jane Rosen, Nichols Research, Sunnyvale, Calif. Chapter awards were presented to the following: Michele Avant, Jackson & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, Atlanta/SE Chapter; Bernadine McGinnis, American Medical Association, Chicago, Chicago Chapter; Barbara Nolan, Barbara Nolan Market Research, Maitland, Fla., Florida Chapter; Terilyn Reber Vaught, ACNielsen BASES, Covington, Ky., Great Lakes Chapter; Peter Van Brunt, ReData, Inc., Bethesda, Md., Mid-Atlantic Chapter; Lisa Denning, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota/Upper Midwest Chapter; Dorothy Bacon, Granite State Mktg. Research, Inc., Londonderry, N.H., New England Chapter; Gail Adams, The Wats Room, New York, New York/NE Chapter; Angela Gomez, Research Data Design, Portland, Ore., Northern California/Pacific NW Chapter; Adrienne Goldbaum, Consumer Research Center, Las Vegas, Nev., Southern California Chapter; and Barbara Rosner, Rosner Field Audits, Tempe, Ariz., Southwest Chapter.
Adam Hill and Russell Wojcik have joined Knowledge Systems & Research, Syracuse, N.Y., as research analysts.
Richard (Rick) Tobin has been appointed president of Strategy Research Corp., Miami, replacing founder Richard W. Tobin. In addition, Monica Campana has been promoted to project director.
Sharon Johnson has joined PTM Research, Ann Arbor, Mich., as vice president.
Spiller Research Group, St. Petersburg, Fla., has named David Moak vice president of research and development. Moak will head the firm's new advanced research divisIon.
Anne Bernstein has been named vice president in the consumer trends division of Roper Starch Worldwide, New York.
Clearwater Research has announced several new hires and promotions at its Boise, Idaho home office. The new hires: Kerri Holloway as data collection project technical assistant, Gretchen Hawes as usability lab specialist, Laurie Kuntz as usability lab recruiter, Brandyn Romo as research analyst, and Adam Cummings as summer intern. The promotions: Pamela Hansen to data collection project technical assistant, Julie Rieman to day shift supervisor, Deanna Fisher to day shift supervisor, Clyde Dooley to senior supervisor of the Boise data collection department, Ward Ballard to research analyst, and Charles Dickinson to senior research analyst. Separately, Clearwater's Mike Exinger has been named president elect of the Southwest Chapter of the Marketing Research Association for 1999-2000. He was also named as a member to the new council to address technology issues in market research.
Howard Willens has been named president of Mature Marketing & Research, Boston.
Ed Cohen has been named director, domestic radio research, at the Arbitron Company, New York.
Denise Rhinehart has been named vice president and director of the Econometrics Group at Decision Analyst, Arlington, Texas.
Esther Young has joined Quality Controlled Services, St. Louis, as branch manager for the company's Appleton, Wis., office. Robert Linden has joined the firm's St. Louis office as an account representative.
Jim Stone has been named vice president of Maritz Marketing Research's newly-formed research and development department. He was also named president of the international research and marketing sciences departments. Catherine Dudmesh of Maritz/TRBI in London has been named global director of mystery shopping. Amy Populorum has been named assistant manager at the Maritz Telecommunications Research Group. She will be based in Chicago. Joe Retzer has joined the Telecommunications Research Group as director of marketing sciences.
John Ball has joined Thompson Lightstone & Co., a Toronto research firm, as vice president and director of business development.
Marilyn Goldman has joined RI ConwaylMilliken Associates, a Chicago research firm, as senior vice president.
Flake-Wilkerson Market Insights, Little Rock, Ark., has named Randy Hanson vice president and chief methodologist, Dawn Adams project director, and Kevin Ennis programmer.
Lori Laflin has joined CJ Olson Market Research, Minneapolis, as director, data processing.
Greg Moore has joined TMR Inc., a Parsippany, N.J., research firm, as vice president/general manager of the company's fourth interviewing facility, which is scheduled to open this fall. Moore will join the facility management team of Michelle Adore, Michael Felderman, and Jamie Jurgaitis.
David Reibstein of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has been named to a two-year term as the executive director of the Marketing Science Institute, a Cambridge, Mass., non-profit center for research in marketing.
Nicole Brandon has joined Eagle Research as qualitative manager of the firm's Atlanta focus group facility.
Ariadne DeVizio has been promoted to research analyst at Innovative Media Research, Hoboken, N.J. In addition, Nancy Zafft has been named research analyst and systems manager, and Marlene Tammy Haynes has been promoted to office manager.
ICR/lnternational Communications Research, Media, Pa., has promoted Melissa Herrmann to vice president of social science research.
Action Research, Burlington, Vt., has promoted Richard H. McCoy to director of research.
Dale Florio has been elected to the board of directors of Opinion Research Corp., Princeton, N.J.
Julia Beaver has been named vice president of the Competitive Tracking Services division of BAIGlobal lnc., a Tarrytown, N.Y., research firm.
Sue Nielsen-McAdams has been named president of Herron Associates, Inc., an Indianapolis, Ind., research firm. The firm also announced the following promotions: Paul Jorgensen to vice president; Michelle Davis to coordinator of phone and field operations; and Kelly Toles to qualitative manager.
World Research, San Jose, Calif., has named Peter J. Auditore vice president of syndicated research services. Merrill Dubrow has joined bizrate.com, Los Angeles, as manager, client development.
NFO Prognostics, Palo Alto, Calif., has appointed Tina Weinfurther executive vice president, responsible for all operations for the firm. She will continue to lead the firm's consulting services division, which she launched last year.
Cheskin Research, Redwood Shores, Calif., has named Christopher Ireland as its new CEO. Ireland was the founder of ImageNet, a qualitative and ethnographic market research firm which merged with Cheskin Research in 1996. Prior to assuming her new role, Christopher shared management responsibilities with her partners Davis Masten and Darrel Rhea. Masten and Rhea remain in their positions as principals of the company.
The Strategis Group, Inc., a Washington, D.C., research and consulting firm, has named Samuel H. Book acting president and CEO, succeeding Andrew Roscoe, who resigned to pursue other opportunities.
Market Perspectives, Inc., Framingham, Mass., has appointed David Kaufman vice president of sales for custom research.
Chris Efken has been hired as senior research associate at Doyle Research Associates, Inc., Chicago.
Hispanic & Asian Marketing Communication Research, Inc. (H&AMCR), Belmont, Calif., has named James H. Owen director of research services. In addition, Isabelle Martineau has been named data production and programming manager for quantitative projects, and Luis Vergara has joined the qualitative research team as project manager for English and Spanish language projects. The firm also announced that Charo Aguila Mouritzen will moderate for H&AMCR's research projects in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America.
Action Research, Burlington, Yt., has promoted Richard H. McCoy to director of research.