Jagdish Sheth


Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University. He was a prominent member of the core team during the initial years of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, the first Indian Institute of Management. Prof. Sheth was awarded by Padma Bhushan 2020 for his work in literature & education in United States.

Early days

Sheth was born in Burma in a Jain family, where his father had migrated from Western India to set up a business as a rice merchant. In 1941, the family emigrated as a refugees in wake of Japanese invasion of Burma to India. He received most of his schooling in Madras. It was here that he met his future wife, Madhuri Shah, at a local literacy society for high school students that he had founded.

Academic career

Sheth came to the United States to further his academic career and received his MBA at the University of Pittsburgh in 1962. He was fascinated by the psychological theories being advanced at that time and pursued a career in academia. During the mid-1960s he studied and researched at MIT, Columbia and the University of Pittsburgh, where he received his PhD in 1966 from its Katz Graduate School of Business. It was during this period that he started developing his "Theory of Buyer Behavior." A book that he co-authored with his mentor Professor John Howard provided the foundation for the future of research in the field of consumer psychology and marketing.
In 2017, he was named a fellow of the Association for Consumer Research.

Writings and activities

Sheth has published more than 200 articles in leading journals and has written a number of books. His most recent book is The Accidental Scholar. Prior, he wrote . His other significant books have been Tectonic Shift: The Geoeconomic Realignment of Globalizing Markets with Rajendra S. Sisodia, The Rule of Three: Surviving and Thriving in Competitive Markets, Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Develop Breakthrough Relationships, and Handbook of Relationship Marketing. In 2007, he published .
The "Sheth Family Foundation" has established Sheth International Awards at the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies.
He was also founding chairman of the Academic Council of the Mumbai Business School, a business school located in Mumbai, India, but which closed after attracting just 15 students.