Kannan Wins AMA TechSIG Lifetime Achievement Award

The American Marketing Association’s Innovation, Technology and Interactivity Special Interest Group (AMA TechSIG) recognized Smith’s P.K. Kannan with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented to Kannan at the AMA Winter Academic Conference in Phoenix in February.

Kannan, the Dean's Chair in Marketing Science and associate dean for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, shared the honor with Gerard Tellis of the University of Southern California.

The TechSIG group serves academics and professionals interested in the intersection of technology and marketing. According to the group’s website, the AMA Tech SIG Lifetime Achievement Award aims to honor established scholars whose enduring contributions to the fields of innovation, technology and interactivity have profoundly shaped marketing scholarship and practice. Recipients have made “significant and sustained contributions to the tech domain over an extended period” and demonstrate “a consistent record of impactful research, leadership, and influence in the areas of innovation and technology within marketing.”

Kannan’s research expertise is on marketing modeling, applying statistical econometric, machine learning and AI methods to marketing data. His current research focuses on digital marketing. He has received several grants from the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, SAIC and PricewaterhouseCoopers for his work. His research has been published in the top academic journals in the field and he has won numerous prestigious awards. He also serves in editorial positions and editorial boards for several academic journals.

A committee of marketing scholars selected Kannan and Tellis for the lifetime achievement award from a pool of nominations. They were evaluated on the significance and originality of their contributions to the tech domain; their research impact and influence on both academia and industry; and their legacy in mentoring and inspiring future scholars and practitioners in the field.