Dawn Lerman, Ph.D.

Dawn Lerman’s love of language and culture was cultivated during the many summers she spent abroad as a child. Her family often accompanied her father, a business professor, on study trips he led for his executive M.B.A. students to learn about international business.

“That gave me an appreciation for differences in language, including vocabulary and styles of speaking,” she said. “It also gave me an appreciation for culture and why people do what they do.”

Lerman studied French language and literature as an undergraduate at Brandeis University and, although she had “visions of jet-setting around the French-speaking world as a management consultant,” she ultimately pursued a career in business education with a focus on marketing, language, and consumer behavior.

Over the 25 years she has served on the faculty of the Gabelli School of Business, Lerman has taught several courses, including Marketing with Cultural Intelligence, Strategic Branding, and Consumer Behavior. She co-authored the book, “The Language of Branding: Theory, Strategy, and Tactics,” and her extensive research has been published in numerous scholarly journals. Currently, she is researching the impact of Generative AI usage with Associate Professor Marina Carnevale, Ph.D.

“My interest grew out of voice technology, which is predicated on AI. We talk to Siri or Alexa, and when they don’t understand what we’re saying, we have to adapt and reformulate our language,” Lerman explained. “How does this adaptation impact our relationship with the brand? I find this question fascinating.”

While a member of the faculty, Lerman has held many administrative roles as well, such as associate dean of graduate studies and senior associate dean for research and academic innovation. She is currently special advisor to the provost on strategy. In each of these positions, she has collaborated with colleagues on critical projects aimed at providing students with exceptional learning experiences and preparing them to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce. “Whenever I can work with others to build something new while learning in the process, those are always the most rewarding experiences for me,” she said.

In 2010, Lerman co-founded the Center for Positive Marketing, where she is executive director. The Center delivers many programs that bring together scholars and industry leaders, including an annual conference, a research competition based on industry talks, and funding that makes it possible for students to participate in industry events nationwide.

Lerman, who earned an M.B.A. at New York University and a Ph.D. at Baruch College, has been an active member of the ANA Educational Foundation (AEF), sitting on its board of directors and serving as chair of the Visiting Professor Program Committee. This past summer, the Center for Positive Marketing, which hosts the program, convened its largest group yet of more than 40 faculty members from universities across the United States to explore cutting-edge marketing practices.

As she reflected on her career, Lerman shared some memorable highlights including working with teams to design and launch the Full-time M.B.A. program and rebuilding graduate admissions “from the ground up.” For several years, she also led a study tour to China as part of a course she developed called Understanding the Chinese Market. “Taking our graduate students to China and crisscrossing the country north, south, east, and west, then hearing about how that experience transformed them, was so fulfilling,” she said. “It transformed me, too.”