BARTON ALAN WEITZ

WEITZ, BARTON ALAN
Barton Alan Weitz, 76, of Gainesville, passed away Saturday, June 30, 2018, from Parkinson's disease.
Bart was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 14, 1941, the son of the late Edward and Helen Weitz. He graduated from Shaker Heights High School. Bart received a BSEE from MIT and an MBA and PhD from Stanford. At MIT, he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.
A serious 1971 car accident left Bart a paraplegic, but with courage, grace, and determination he overcame many obstacles and went on to become one of the most distinguished marketing professors in the world.
After a brief stint in sales and marketing in the technology sector, Bart returned to Stanford as a PhD student and began his professional life in academia. He was appointed to UCLA's Graduate School of Management and later joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
In 1986, Bart became the J.C. Penney Eminent Scholar Chair in Retailing at the University of Florida. In 1988, he founded the Miller Retail Center and served as its executive director until his retirement in 2012.
Bart is known for his many contributions in marketing. In addition to publishing path-breaking research, Bart served as chairman of the American Marketing Association and as editor of the Journal of Marketing Research, the flagship journal of the discipline. His contributions were recognized by no less than five lifetime achievement awards from various organizations. In 1998 he was named the AMA/Irwin Distinguished Marketing Educator, the highest academic distinction in the marketing field. In 2015, Bart became one of the inaugural Fellows of the American Marketing Association.
Bart's work with PhD students was unquestionably his most cherished role. Bart chaired more than 20 doctoral dissertations in his career, and his students became part of his family. His students came from all over the globe, and virtually all of them are enjoying wonderful academic careers of their own.
Bart was an avid Gator fan, attending all the sporting events he could. He is survived by his wife Shirley Weitz; sister, Laurie Waters; and nephew, Allan Waters.
A celebration of Bart's life is planned for September.
Memorials may be made to: United Way of North Central Florida www.unitedwayncfl.org in memory of Bart Weitz.