Extending Robert F. Lusch’s “Big Picture” Thinking: Introduction

This is the first of two special issues of the Journal of Macromarketing (JMK) expanding Robert F. (Bob) Lusch’s Big Picture Thinking and memorializing a very special person. Robert was a ‘big thinker,’ ‘an idea machine’ for research possibilities; because several of the papers in this issue cite some of his lesser known publications, ideas contained in them may inspire future research. This issue also contains multiple, glowing descriptions of Bob’s attitude toward scholarly investigations, an attitude that is worthy of imitation by academics. Bob was not a hermetic academic; his personal qualities are a winning formula for academic success and respect (they are discernible in the commentaries). We begin by highlighting several of Lusch’s academic achievements; then turn to Bob – a truly remarkable human being. Few academic marketers have contributed as much to our profession as Robert F. Lusch did with scholarship, service to the profession, and administrative work. As a scholar, he has over 15,500 citations as measured by the Web of Science, with an H-index of 40, and an average number of citations nearing 150. Quite remarkably, his publications go well beyond the marketing and business classifications; they include various facets of electrical engineering, computer sciences, information sciences, social sciences, economics, finance, psychology, transportation, and other disciplines. Robert was a truly a renaissance scholar – as well as a polymath in his personal reading. Among the family photos, awards and mementos, a scan of Bob’s bookcase of 200þ of his favorites reveal dog-eared copies of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, S.C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon, Jacob Bronowski’s The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination, as well as architecture journals, various volumes on African Tribal masks, Native American pots, rugs and trading posts, plus books on photography, world history, nature, Western Art, a few books of poetry, and a signed copy of George Gilder’s Wealth and Poverty. Beyond breadth of interests there was incredible depth: Lusch was twice recipient of the Harold H. Maynard Award for the Best Theory Article in the Journal of Marketing (1996, 2004), recipient of the AMA-Irwin-McGraw-Hill Distinguished Marketing Educator Award (2013), a member of the inaugural class of AMA Fellows (2015), and recipient of the Paul D. Converse Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Marketing, amongst many other awards. In terms of professional service, Lusch chaired the 1985 Summer AMA Conference, edited the Journal of Marketing (1996 – 1999), was Chairman of the Board for the American Marketing Association (2000 – 2001), and made many other efforts on behalf of our profession. As an administrator, Lusch was twice a Dean (OU and TCU). Later, at the University of Arizona, he was department chair, then Executive Director of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship. In brief, Robert F. Lusch was “a STAR – an academician who consistently excelled in service, teaching, administration and research” (Varadarajan 2020). Bob was a friend – and often a coauthor – to many, a loving husband to Virginia, and a proud father of Heather, Steve and Mark (aka “the twins”). Among his many talents, his gift of bringing people together may have been his greatest. The number, scope, and tone of papers in our special issues testify to Bob’s intellectually invigorating personality, efforts on behalf of so many of us – often without our initial knowledge, and modesty about his own scholarship.