Professor Barton A. Weitz

Dr. Barton A. Weitz is the J.C. Penney Eminent Scholar Chair and Executive Director of the David Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida. He is a former Chair of Board of Directors of American Marketing Association and member of

the Board of Directors of the National Retail Federation and the National Retail Federation Foundation.

Dr Weitz established the Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida. 31 retail industry firms including JC Penney, Sears Holding, Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s, and Walgreen’s support the center. Its programs are designed to stimulate student interest in retailing careers, prepare them for entry-level positions, and support faculty research on retailing issues and problems.

Professor Weitz's research interests focus on the development of long-term relationships between firms in a channel of distribution (retailers and vendors), firms and their employees, and salespeople and their customers. Professor Weitz was the recipient of the American Marketing Association / Irwin Distinguished Marketing Educator Award for lifetime contribution to the marketing discipline. In 2006, the National Retail Federation honored him as Retail Educator of the year. He is the co-author of Retailing Management, a textbook published by McGraw-Hill, now in its sixth edition. The textbook is used by over 75,000 students in U.S. colleges and universities during a three-year edition cycle and has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese.

Steven P. Kirn Ph.D.

Dr. Steve Kirn is an organizational psychologist and Director of Executive Training and Development at the Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida. Through Steven Kirn Consulting, Inc., Dr Kirn also provides consulting services to a

wide range of organizations in the areas of leadership development, learning, and organizational change. He served for much of the 1990s as Vice President for Learning and Development at Sears, Roebuck and Co., then the second largest retailer in the U.S. Previously, he was Director of Management Education for BATUS, Inc., a company whose holdings included Saks Fifth Avenue, Kohl’s and Marshall Field’s department stores, and a number of other major U.S. retailers. Dr. Kirn has over 30 years’ experience in teaching, consulting and senior management roles.

Betsy Trobaugh

Betsy Trobaugh joined the David F. Miller Center for Retailing, Education and Research at the University of Florida in April 2001, as JC Penney Director. Prior to joining the University of Florida, Betsy enjoyed a successful 20-year career in the retail industry. Her career

in store management and corporate centered in the areas of Human Resources and Operations.

Betsy began her career in 1981 with Lord & Taylor in their flagship store in Manhattan. She remained for 5 years in their Operations division. In addition, she held several store appointments as Assistant General Manager in their South Florida stores. In 1986 she joined Macy’s East where she increased her Human Resources exposure and responsibility both in stores and corporate. In 1992 Betsy became the Regional Human Resources and Training Director for the Florida, Georgia and Louisiana stores. In 1993 she joined Saks Fifth Avenue’s 5 th largest volume store in Bal Harbour, Florida as Human Resources Director.

Currently as the JC Penney Director, Betsy is responsible for developing an online MBA in Retailing Degree. She also creates and coordinates the Center’s Annual Retail Symposium. This two day seminar showcases retail’s leading executives who share their insight, expertise and thoughts on important issues facing the industry. Betsy markets the Retail Center to increase sponsorship and exposure for the services it provides. She also teaches the course “Introduction To Retail Systems and Management” at the University of Florida.

Betsy received her Master’s Degree in Human Resources from Nova University and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts with a BS in Fashion Marketing