Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2014: IBMWatson 

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2012: Paul McDonald (Google Consumer Surveys)

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2006: Kim Dedeker (P&G)

“This year’’s honoree, Procter and Gamble VP-Global Market and Consumer Knowledge Kim Dedeker, has a personal and professional mission. She laid out and justified her goal–helping to drive the industry to address assorted data quality issues–in pointed comments at The Research Industry Summit: Improving Respondent Cooperation, in Chicago this past September….”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2005: Larry Brownell (MRA)

From the November 2005 Research Business Report:

“Brownell’’s piece de resistance in 2005 was implementing something the industry has debated ad nauseam for decades, but has never been able or willing to initiate. The move establishing the research industry’s first certification and accreditation programs positioned MRA as an industry leader. Not long ago, that would have been inconceivable. The initiatives are designed to build the MR profession’s credibility by helping companies realize research-based decision-making beats their current method, notably gut instincts. Thus, these programs can have immense impact well beyond MRA’s boundaries. They also epitomize–along with low-cost membership and clear payback–why some research practitioners and MR agencies now are starting to perceive MRA as the research organization of choice for those looking to belong only to one…”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2004: Dan Frawley (Iconoculture)

“Research Business Report is proud that our selection of the 2004 Executive of the Year–Dan Frawley, CEO of Iconoculture (Minneapolis, MN)–is delivering marketers a long- overdue answer to the consumer culture conundrum.”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2003: Jim Medick (MRCGroup)

From the November 2003 Research Business Report

“Medick’s selection stems from MRCGroup’s part in transforming Las Vegas into one of the U.S.’ hot locations for MR. He has persuaded MR users throughout the U.S. marketing realm–literally one at a time– about the town’s viability and reliabilityas a source for nationally representative samples and he has pushed his belief in Vegas having become the country’s best test market. Those have fueled explosive MRCGroup growth and opened the way for short-term projected revenue and profit advances that could dwarf results that have already put a permanent smile on Medick’s face. They have also founded new MR capabilities and initiatives that are helping MRCGroup redefine its personal meaning of full-service MR…”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2002: Mike Connors and Steve Schmidt (ACNielsen)

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2001: Jeff Peterson and Dan Hunter on behalf of the entire Consumer Insights team (General Mills)

From the November 2001 Research Business Report:

“General Mills is the first MR end-user company to earn our award. Choosing the expansive Consumer Insights area was remarkable and yet the right thing to do. The more than 350 individuals who constitute CI have achieved what no other MRD has even attempted. Sure, a MRD of such size is endowed with incredible resources, but the results of General Mills’ Consumer Insights speak to the commitment of its MR effort. It ignored those who scoff at enterprise-wide implementation of online MR, dedicated itself to making online MR General Mills’ research mode wherever possible–and made it happen. Money was not thrown at the goal; all during General Mills’ transition to online research the underlying goal was a better ROI.”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 2000: Douglas Rivers (Knowledge Networks)

From the November 2000 Research Business Report:

“In October, 1999, we told Rivers that he and Norman Nie might have copped the 1999 award but for the lateness of their business’ introduction. Their concept–recruiting a randomly-selected multi-hundred thousand household sample of U.S. and international households and surveying them on a wide array of matters via WebTV–brilliantly established new online research capabilities. To some industry observers–especially online MR critics–it represented a raising of online MR methodological standards. Its economic impact appeared rosy in light of the promising prospects surrounding Internet research.”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 1999: William Schlegel (MarketTools)

From the November 1999 Research Business Report:

“RBR’s MR Executive of the Year award heralds the individual who makes the greatest technological, methodological and/or economic advance benefitting the MR industry. The MarketTools service hits all three of those buttons. The 1999 MR Executive of the Year award specifically recognizes MarketTools’ significant contribution in equipping MR providers with a dynamic online MR tool at a reasonable cost. This is key because the technology is prohibitively expensive on a company-by-company basis. Under the guidance of Bill Schlegel, supported by the brilliant technical skills of Chief Operating Officer David Brogan, two-year-old MarketTools, Inc. has developed a product that will dramatically change the MR business in several remarkable ways…”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 1998: Gordon S. Black, Ph.D. and David H. Clemm (Harris Black International, Ltd.)

From the November 1998 Research Business Report:

“This year, RBR presents its fourth annual Executive of the Year Award to the duo who call the shots at Harris Black International, Ltd.: Chairman and CEO Gordon S. Black, Ph.D., and President and COO David H. Clemm. After the 1996 acquisition of Louis Harris and Associates by Gordon S. Black Corp., the new company became the second fastest-growing market research firm in the United States, according to Inside Research. An $8 million company before the Harris transaction, HBI annual revenues shot up to $26 million in only two years, with customers in more than 80 countries….”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 1997: Steve M. Schmidt (ACNielsen)

From the November 1997 Research Business Report:

“Almost two years to the day after he joined ACNielsen, Research Business Report honors Managing Director Steven M. Schmidt with our third annual Executive of the Year Award. ACNielsen’s U.S. division will show a healthy profit in 1997. It is no minor accomplishment — ACNielsen last made a profit in 1992. These days, the key word for ACNielsen is momentum. Success has been driven by customer wins, new products and the worldwide headquarters’ management team in Stamford, CT, including Schmidt….”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 1996: Tod Johnson and Steve Coffey (The NPD Group)

From the November 1996 Research Business Report:

“One business stands head and shoulders above the rest in Internet market research: The NPD Group’s PC-Meter LP (Port Washington, NY). Research Business Report awards its second annual Executive of the Year Award to the management duo of Tod Johnson, 52-year-old CEO and sole shareholder of NPD, and 40-year-old Steve Coffey, Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer. RBR considered the service’s impact, the challenge faced by PC-Meter, NPD’s rapid roll-out to an eager marketplace, PC-Meter’s dedication to customer service and to a continuing upgrade in the service’s usefulness, as well as client reaction to the new Internet measurement service….”

Research Business Report Executive of the Year Award 1995: John A. Dimling (Nielsen Media Research)

From the November 1995 Research Business Report:

“John A. Dimling, President and Chief Operating Officer at Nielsen Media Research, receives great internal respect because he is a chief executive with a pronounced research background. After nearly two-and-one-half years at the helm of one of the most visible research companies in the world, the 57-year-old Dimling has steered Nielsen Media Research into enviable and rare business situations…”

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