User:Nickgerlich

A native of Chicago, Nick received his BA with majors in Marketing and Economics from Anderson (IN) University. He then went on to Indiana University, where he earned his MBA and PhD (both in Marketing). From there he came to West Texas A&M University in 1989, where he is now Department Head and Professor of Marketing.

Nick has published nearly 60 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings, and is a pioneer in WTAMU’s online education programs. Since 1997 he has taught online nearly 50 times, and has won the Distance Learning Innovation Award twice. He participated in the Management Development Program at Harvard University in Summer 2009.

He was among the first in the nation to utilize Twitter in the online classroom (summer 2008). An early adopter of Twitter, Nick has been instrumental in leading numerous local businesses and organizations to utilize this fast-paced social media platform as a business tool.

The developer of WTAMU’s undergraduate and graduate courses in E-Commerce, he seized the bull by the horns in 2008 and saw the changes that had occurred since 1999. He renamed and reinvented the courses as Evolutionary Marketing, to reflect the increasing rate of change in the field, as well as the widespread adoption of emerging media.

Besides, web sites are so 20th century anyway.

Nick is a compulsive writer, and crafts a blog for his online students 7 days a week during the semester. His work is mirrored at BuffBusiness.com, the College of Business blog he created. He’s also working on a memoir, tentatively titled The Things I Put Up With.

As part of his commitment to professional service, Nick has served on the Boards of Directors of Center City in Amarillo and the Texas Bicycle Coalition. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Canyon Economic Development Corporation. He has developed over 50 web sites through the years for both local and national clients, and has engaged in a marketing strategy and social media consultations with various companies.

When Nick is not busy staring down a computer or tapping away on his iPhone, he rides bikes. A lot. Since 1983 he has logged over 345,000 miles. He is an active bike commuter and President of the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association. He also threatens to return to the racing scene one day.