Dr. Bernhardt is Taylor E. Little Jr. Professor of Marketing and Special Assistant to the Dean for Corporate and Community Relations at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University in Atlanta where he has been a member of the faculty since 1972. He previously served as Chairman of the Marketing Department from 1989 to 1993 and 2003 to 2005 and was Assistant Dean for Corporate Relations from 2005-2008. He was Regents Professor of Marketing from 1989-2009. He teaches courses in Strategic Marketing Management and Consumer Behavior. During 1983-84, Professor Bernhardt was Visiting Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has also taught at the University of Michigan and Virginia Tech (V.P.I.), and has served as Visiting Research Professor at the Marketing Science Institute in Cambridge, MA.
From 1978 to 1980, Dr. Bernhardt served as Consumer Research Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission. In that position, he was responsible for the Impact Evaluation Program to assess the effectiveness of the FTC's consumer protection programs and for the design and implementation of the FTC's marketing research activity. He received the Chairman's Award for Meritorious Service when he left the FTC to return to teaching.
His other work experience includes consulting and research assignments for a number of organizations including Chick-fil-A, UPS, The Federal Trade Commission, Kimberly-Clark Health Care, Holiday Inn, BellSouth, IBM, Southern Mills, Coca-Cola, Snapper, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Engauge Digital, AirTran Airways, and several law firms. He serves on the Board of Advisors for Sanders Financial Management, Honey Baked Ham Company, New Heights Manufacturing, and What's Up, an interactive marketing agency. His other activities include service as past Chairman of the Board of the 45,000 member American Marketing Association, past President and former Executive Secretary of the Association for Consumer Research, and past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Marketing Association Foundation. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors and executive committees of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, Junior Achievement of Georgia, Leadership Atlanta, Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, and the Georgia State University Foundation. He is a past chair of the board and a Life Director of the Alliance Theatre and serves on the board of directors for the Metro Atlanta Arts and Culture Coalition. He is a former Chair of the U.S. Census Bureau Marketing Advisory Committee.
Dr. Bernhardt has published twelve books and monographs (including 2 leading marketing textbooks) and numerous articles on marketing and consumer behavior in the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, the Journal of Retailing, Journal of Services Marketing, Business, American Education Research Journal, and the Proceedings of the Annual Conferences of the Association for Consumer Research, the American Marketing Association and the American Psychological Association. His current research interests involve consumer attitudes and behavior, public policy issues in marketing, and the marketing of services. He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of Marketing Management and writes a bi-monthly column on marketing for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Professor Bernhardt has won 4 Outstanding Teacher Awards and has won the Alumni Distinguished Professor Award as the best professor in the GSU College of Business. In 1995 he received the University's first Exceptional Service Award given for outstanding service to the community. He is a recipient of the Arts and Business Council's ABBY Award for volunteerism in the arts, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau President's Award for outstanding contributions to the marketing of Atlanta, and the American Marketing Association's Lemburg Award for outstanding contributions to the marketing profession.Dr. Bernhardt received a B.S. degree from Washington and Lee University, and he is a graduate of the Harvard Business School M.B.A. program. He received the Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.