Professor of Marketing Aysen Bakir and Professor of Psychology Jeffrey Wagman have been named Outstanding University Researchers by the Office of the Provost. They will be honored at the Founders Day Convocation on February 21.
Aysen Bakir
Aysen Bakir
Professor Aysen Bakir’s research has focused on consumer socialization of children and the processes young people go through in developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to function as consumers. Much of her published work is on children’s advertising, adolescents’ consumption behavior, and cross-cultural consumer behavior. She has published more than 40 refereed journal articles and proceedings. Her research has appeared in prestigious journals such as Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, and others.
A native of Turkey, Bakir moved to the U.S. in 1997 to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Mississippi. She came to Illinois State in 2002. During her career at Illinois State, Bakir has been named as the Gary R. Gemberling Faculty Scholar in Business, has been recognized as the College of Business Outstanding Researcher, and has received the Amar Kamath Faculty Innovation Award. She is also a past recipient of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) 2010 Outstanding Marketing Teacher Award.
Bakir’s research has made a significant impact both nationally and internationally. Her most recent work focuses on the impact of ad characters’ body weight on adolescents’ attitudes toward food products being advertised. This topic is particularly relevant given the increased rates of obesity among children.
Jeffrey Wagman
Jeffrey Wagman
Professor Wagman’s research is in the field known as ecological psychology, and he focuses primarily on the relationship between perception and action, and the means by which individuals detect environmental information that specifies the behavioral possibilities available in a given context.
Wagman began his career at Illinois State University in 2003. To date, he has published 65 peer-reviewed journal articles, 15 book reviews and book chapters, and 21 conference proceedings. All of his research endeavors involve students. He has student coauthors on over 30 of his journal articles and nearly 50 conference presentations. He was the recipient of an Illinois State University Research Initiative Award in 2006, and the Outstanding College Researcher in 2018.
Often invited to give talks at universities around the globe, Wagman organized the 2018 North American Meeting of the International Society for Ecological Psychology; and in 2011, he received a prestigious Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellowship for Research in Japan. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Society for Ecological Psychology, as well as appointed to serve as an associate editor for the flagship journal in his area of expertise, Ecological Psychology.
