School of Business Mourns Loss of Longtime Professor of Marketing

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Kevin McCrohan, professor emeritus of marketing at George Mason University School of Business, passed away on January 9.

Kevin McCrohan, professor emeritus of marketing at George Mason University School of Business
Kevin McCrohan

McCrohan distinguished himself as the longest serving head of the marketing discipline in the School of Business during his 38 years at Mason, serving as chair of the marketing area for 14 years. He earned distinction as a Senior Fulbright Scholar twice at the School of Business, Kathmandu University in Dhulikhel, Nepal and a third time at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

McCrohan was a recognized expert in the areas of the informal economy (tax avoidance), citizen support of public and non-profit institutions, and cyber security (critical infrastructure). As testament to his outstanding contributions in research, McCrohan was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award for survey research in 1984.

McCrohan published more than 50 articles, cases, chapters in books, and published proceedings on marketing, business, and interdisciplinary topics such as cyber security and assurance of learning. His research appeared in top journals in marketing and business, including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. McCrohan also received several grants, including a multi­year grant from The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) together with marketing faculty. Additionally, he participated in more than 100 consultancies of academic merit that addressed major national issues including tax evasion and critical infrastructure protection. He served on numerous committees at the School of Business and on the Editorial Review Boards for the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and the Journal of Consumer Marketing. He also served in leadership and reviewing roles for the American Marketing Association.

Colleagues shared that McCrohan added a strong sense of community and wise perspective on the daily operations of the marketing area. McCrohan joined the School of Business in 1981 and stayed on until his retirement in 2019. “I worked with Kevin closely on many job searches,” said Jessica Hoppner, area chair of marketing. “He was instrumental and very supportive of building a really great core of marketing faculty.”

“My mentor, my co-author, my best friend will be sorely missed,” said James Harvey, associate professor of marketing. “Much of the current stature of the school is due to Kevin’s past contributions.”

McCrohan’s teaching covered a diverse set of courses for both undergraduate and graduate students including Marketing in a Global Economy, Marketing Management, and Nonprofit Marketing. He also created a marketing undergraduate elective, Competitive Intelligence and Information Security, which was part of the interdisciplinary concentration in Internet Marketing Resiliency and was offered through fall 2015. This course and concentration assisted students in developing careers with the FBI, DISA, U.S. Army and a number of major firms in the area, as well as in establishing their own security firms. McCrohan was the recipient of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Exceptional Public Service Award in 2004.

McCrohan also served as advisor for Delta Sigma Pi in the early 90s. “Kevin was a great mentor to his students and contributed much to their business acumen,” said Janet Faughnan, instructor of accounting.

A legacy of his time at Mason will live on through the Kevin and Veronica McCrohan Endowed Scholarship, which was established in 2016. This fund provides scholarships for students majoring or minoring in marketing in the School of Business who are serving or who have served on active duty in the Special Operations forces of any U.S. military service, in the combat arms of the U.S. Army, or in the U.S. Marine Corps. McCrohan himself was a paratrooper and Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, and twice received The Legion of Merit and Defense Meritorious Service Medals.

“Kevin’s life and work were wonderful examples of the defining characteristics of today’s School of Business – student learning experience and career readiness, impactful research, and inclusive excellence and cohesive culture,” said Dean Ajay Vinzé. “We will miss him dearly and will be forever grateful to him for his contributions to our school and the marketing discipline.”

A celebration of his life is being planned at Arlington National Cemetery for a later date.

Donate to The Kevin and Veronica McCrohan Endowed Scholarship