John F. (Jeff) Tanner Jr., Ph.D. (University of Georgia) is the Dean of the Strome College of Business and a Professor of Marketing at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia. Before entering academia, Jeff spent eight years in sales and marketing roles at Rockwell International and Xerox. At ODU, he launched the university’s sales program, created the Sales Slam competition, and secured funding to endow the first collegiate School of Professional Selling & Sales Management.

Prior to joining ODU, Jeff held various roles, including co-director of the Center for Professional Selling at Baylor University, the first center of its kind in the world. He has received numerous accolades for teaching effectiveness and research, including the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Society for Marketing Advances and the Outstanding Visiting Lecturer Award from ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico.

Dr. Tanner is the author or co-author of more than 80 articles in journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His research has earned several awards, including the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management Paper of the Year. His fieldwork and research extend to Malawi, Australia, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, France, and Colombia.

He has also authored or co-authored 15 books, including the leading sales textbook, Selling: Building Partnerships (with Steve Castleberry), and Principles of Marketing: How Marketing Gets Done (with Mary Anne Raymond). Two of his books are written for executives: The Hard Truth About Soft Selling and Analytics & Dynamic Customer Strategy: Big Profits from Big Data.

Jeff currently serves on the boards of the Hampton Roads Chamber and VersAbility Resources (an employer of and service provider to persons with disabilities) and as a commissioner on the Virginia Horse Racing Commission.