We Are Smith: Roland Rust

Roland is well-read – as in, everyone has read Roland’s research.  Roland Rust’s publications could fill an entire bookcase in McKeldin Library. His hundreds of peer- reviewed articles, the research citing his work, and his books, including Driving Customer Equity: How Customer Lifetime Value is Reshaping Corporate Strategy, have changed the world of marketing.

We push the boundaries of research with world-class faculty. We Are Smith.

Learn more about Roland in his We Are Smith interview.

What drives your passion for Smith?

I love the innovative spirit of my colleagues and the students. The university has this “Fearless Ideas” campaign, and I really feel that in the business school. There are people doing some amazing things.

What is the most interesting thing you have in your office?

My plaque for being named to the DePauw University Athletic Hall of Fame is the most interesting, at least to me. I am as proud of it as I am anything in my academic life.

What career achievement makes you most proud?

I built models that showed businesses that they could make money from satisfying customers. It was a big idea that had a lot of impact. Before that, businesses paid lip service to satisfying customers, but didn’t really believe in it, because the effect hadn’t been quantified. That academic work won a lot of awards, Business Week did a cover story reacting to my work, and I was interviewed on ABC’s World News Tonight about it.

If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?

I would enjoy meeting Mark Twain. He was salt of the earth, but a brilliant man who wasn’t afraid of challenging the conventional wisdom of his day. His later writings, in particular, are incredibly insightful philosophically.

If you could give advice to a large group of people, what would it be?

Live your own life, and do what makes you happy. Life is too short to do anything else. Every interesting person is unique and isn’t copying anyone else’s life plan.

If you won the lottery, what would you buy?

If the lottery were big enough I would buy an NBA basketball team and serve as my own General Manager. I would drive the coach crazy with my micro-management of the team.

You have a completely open weekend. Where are you and what are you doing?

I’m traveling to an interesting city, walking around for hours and going to modern art museums.

You have a lunch meeting at Ledo’s – what’s on your pizza?

Pepperoni, onions and both black and green olives.

If money were no object, what one project would you tackle at Smith?

I would start a personalized radio station to compete with Pandora. I already have academic research on the topic.

What’s your favorite memory from your time at Smith?

I had the great pleasure of co-chairing Debora Viana Thompson’s doctoral dissertation. A student like her doesn’t come along very often. (She is having a very successful career and recently received tenure at Georgetown.)

Who are your heroes in real life?

I got to know the great New Zealand running coach, Arthur Lydiard. He was a total iconoclast, and became known as the greatest running coach of the 20th century. Our former dean, Howard Frank, is someone else I admire greatly. He is another maverick and a brilliant man. I also greatly admire many musicians and songwriters, and want to get back into that more myself.

If you were to die and come back as a thing, what would it be?

I would probably be a stone in somebody’s shoe.

The We Are Smith campaign highlights the dedicated faculty, staff, students and alumni at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Each person featured fits into one of Smith’s four brand pillars: world-class faculty and research; entrepreneurial spirit; experiential learning; and collaborative community. #WeAreSmith @SmithSchool on Twitter.