David Carl Schmittlein, former deputy dean of the Wharton School, died on March 13 after a battle with cancer. He was 69.

Dr. Schmittlein was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Saint Michaels School in 1973, where he was the valedictorian. He went on to earn an AB in mathematics at Brown University and a PhD and MPhil from Columbia University.

In 1980, Dr. Schmittlein began his professional career as an assistant professor at the Wharton School. He was named the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Marketing at Wharton. He was co-director at the Center for Marketing Strategy Research from 1982 to 1985. He held several leadership positions at Wharton, including serving as chairperson of the marketing department and as vice dean and director of Wharton’s doctoral programs from 1993 to 1995. During his time as deputy dean from 2000-2007, he helped to solidify Wharton’s reputation as a global leader in management education.

Dr. Schmittlein was a leader of various curricular initiatives including the adoption of the “Managing Electronic Commerce” major at the MBA level. Dr. Schmittlein was a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Marketing Research, and a member of the editorial board for Marketing Letters, and on the editorial board for the Journal of Interactive Marketing. He was an area editor for Marketing Science from 1995 to 1997. He was selected as Outstanding Reviewer for the Journal of Marketing Research, 1991-1992. He also served as chair of the editorial board for Wharton School Publishing.

Dr. Schmittlein consulted with firms regarding marketing research methods, models for marketing decisions, advertising, new product development, market segmentation, and direct marketing. He also did work related to antitrust, patent infringement, trademark and trade dress infringement, deceptive advertising, and market-based evidence pertaining to damage assessment. He was involved with research projects focused on customer purchase patterns, assessing future sales potential, direct marketing, and analyzing new product success in Japan and the U.S.

Dr. Schmittlein was honored with a Wharton Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching Award in 1993. He joined Penn’s 25-Year Club in 2005.

For a short time, he served as Wharton’s Interim Dean and then as vice dean for Global Initiatives and Brand Development in 2007. That same year, he left Penn to become Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technoloyg (MIT) Sloan School of Management, holding the John C Head III Deanship. He served in that role and as a professor of marketing at MIT for 17 years.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Bickart; his children, Brigitte Schmittlein (San Francisco) and Gabe Schmittlein (Brooklyn); his five siblings, Joseph, Jeffrey (Jennifer), Carol, Mark (Lynne), and Roger Schmittlein; and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, he requested donations to the Nantucket Conservation Foundation or to any organization that supports cancer research. A celebration of his life will be held in early fall.

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