March 26, 2008
March 19, 2008—The Tobin College of Business lost one of its
most valued faculty members, Chair of the Marketing Department, Dr.
John W. Dobbins during Holy Week. Dr. Dobbins was initially
diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer in February of 2007.
Although doctors had given Dr. Dobbins only a few months to live,
his characteristic resolve and love of life compelled him to fight
the disease with chemotherapy treatments. Teaching was Dr.
Dobbins’s passion and he continued with a full-time schedule even
while undergoing treatment for his illness. Students who attended
his classes over the year supported Dr. Dobbins through his ordeal,
and John made a point to keep them involved in what was happening
in his life.
Graduate student Edward Henry’s very first graduate class at the
Tobin College was in the Fall semester with Dr. Dobbins. “I
remember Professor Dobbins walked in the room and in a positive and
upbeat tone, he told us he had little time to live and actually
apologized—asking us to forgive him if he didn’t finish out the
semester. The first thing that came to my mind,” says Henry, “was
that here I was stressing about things and here is this guy who has
little time to live and he is so uplifting and positive.” Week in
and week out, Dr. Dobbins continued to show up to class as
prepared, positive and passionate as the week before and he never
let his students out a minute early. “Even though it was affecting
him, he never let it affect the class. His same positive energy was
always there even though he looked worse and worse every week. We
[the students] knew any given week he might not be there and when
we went to class and saw him standing there every time we were
inspired. We even started calling him superman.”
Dr. Dobbins brought over 36 years of international experience to
his classroom. He lectured and consulted widely in the United
States, Europe, Asia, and Africa and was a senior marketing advisor
to the local governments of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, China
and Nanjing City, and Jiangsu Province, China, and was also a
senior marketing advisor for Shanghai Jiehua Investment Co. Ltd.,
Shanghai, China. Dr. Dobbins was a business and educational
consultant having provided consulting services and training
assistance to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Open
Society Fund-Lithuania; Fondas 21; the Vilnius Business Advisory
Council, and Vilnius University in Lithuania where he helped to
establish the International Business School, which was the first
school to be established in Lithuania that was based on a free
market economic system.
While Associate Dean of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business,
Dr. Dobbins was instrumental in the establishment of the St. John’s
University Graduate Center in Rome, Italy. He was also
selected by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud,
the world’s 5th wealthiest man, to teach marketing and
international marketing to his son Prince Khalid in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. Dr. Dobbins was the recipient of numerous professional and
outstanding teaching awards including the St. John’s University
Faculty Outstanding Achievement Award, American Marketing
Association Marketing Medal, and UNDP—Lithuania, Citation of
Special Recognition and Appreciation.
Dr. Dobbins always said that teaching was the fuel that kept him
going and that was certainly the case throughout the last year.
“Professor Dobbins didn’t give us a final,” says Henry. “He just
wanted us to come to class and learn and everyone was still as
attentive that last day of class as they were in the first. It was
the best way to teach,” he adds. When asked who their best
professor was to date, many students have said it was Dr. Dobbins.
They feel they learned a great deal not only about marketing, but
also about life. “Even when he was dying he still had so much life
left in him,” says Henry. “He was a great inspiration.”
Professor Dr. John W. Dobbins will be missed by all those whose
lives he touched. The St. John’s University community joins
together in wishing him all the peace he deserves as his
memory lives on.
The Peter J. Tobin College of Business has
provided the highest quality business education for over eighty
years. Many alumni have risen to senior executive positions
in the financial services community in New York and around the
world. Degrees offered include the Bachelor of Science,
Master of Business Administration and Master of Science. The
College encompasses the School of Risk Management, Insurance and
Actuarial Science, which is housed at the University’s Manhattan
location in the heart of the New York financial district.
Recent recognitions for the Tobin College include a listing by The
Aspen Institute among the top ninety business schools in the United
States whose graduate curricula reflect a commitment to social
responsibility and sustainability. For further information, please
contact Jennifer Maizel at (718) 990-6218 or email Maizelj@stjohns.edu.
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