Fellowship Supports Social Responsibility Research

Marketing Professor Abhijit Roy, D.B.A., completes three-year Burkavage Fellowship in Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Abhijit Roy, D.B.A.
Abhijit Roy, D.B.A.

Abhijit Roy, D.B.A., professor of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in The University of Scranton’s Kania School of Management, concluded his three-year William and Elizabeth Burkavage Fellowship in Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.

The endowed fellowship, established in 2009 by William J. and Judith G. Burkavage in memory of William’s parents, William and Elizabeth Burkavage, supports University faculty as they research sustainability, social responsibility and business ethics.

Dr. Roy, who earned his doctor of business administration degree from Boston University, two master’s degrees from the University of Arizona and an undergraduate degree from the University of Allahabad, India, expressed gratitude for the fellowship and outlined an extensive list of research activities he has been able to complete, including co-authoring a publication titled “Predictors of Various Facets of Sustainability of Nations” with the first recipient of the Burkavage Fellowship, Irene Goll, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Kania School of Management.

During his tenure as the Burkavage fellow, Dr. Roy also made distinctive contributions in teaching and service.

In the instructional arena, Dr. Roy designed the material for and volunteered to teach the University MBA program’s cornerstone course, “Responsibility, Sustainability and Justice,” and received a grant to teach “Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship” as a travel/hybrid course in 2018.

“I make sure that the other courses I teach have business ethics and social-responsibility issues infused in them,” he said, citing appropriateness of marketing to vulnerable populations, re-engineering a slum and the use/misuse of stealth-marketing strategies.

During his fellowship, Dr. Roy was published in two languages in six peer-reviewed journals: the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing; the International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Ecosistema; the International Journal of Sustainable Society; the International Business Review; and the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Roy said his published research addresses “various facets of sustainability, responsibility, social entrepreneurship and business ethics” and noted that in his 11 years at the University he has co-authored 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and has several others in progress.

In the academic arena, Dr. Roy has served as an external reviewer for promotion, tenure or funding decisions for Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Xavier Institute of Social Service in Ranchi, India, and the University of Khartoum in Sudan, and he evaluated a sustainability application for the Icelandic Research Fund.

Additionally, Dr. Roy presented 10 papers at major national and international conferences during his fellowship, traveling to Boston, New York, Chicago, Florida and Quebec as well as Belgium, Italy, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates. He also wrote more than 30 encyclopedia articles as well as an award-winning case study titled “Modernizing Dharavi: If You Build, Will They Come?” and served as a book review editor for the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, completing four reviews during his tenure.

Service has also been a crucial element of Dr. Roy’s fellowship tenure. He has donated his time to the University’s annual Thanksgiving food drive, made cultural festival presentations at the Scranton Iron Furnaces and on campus and attended several faculty development initiatives, including making pilgrimage and service trips to Spain and Nicaragua. He also has assisted students with service-learning projects through his Consumer Behavior classes, completing projects for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, downtown Scranton businesses and farmers market groups.

Dr. Roy said that he used the Burkavage support for diverse purposes, from purchasing software, traveling to India to research information not readily available in the United States and traveling to multiple conferences each year.

“I was very humbled to receive the Burkavage fellowship and thank the Burkavage family for funding it,” Dr. Roy said.

Back to Top