Debabrata (Debu) Talukdar
1963 – 2022
Debabrata (Debu) Talukdar was a quiet and distinguished man, an impactful scholar and thinker, and an eclectic learner and teacher. He was loved for his dignity and grace, he was admired for his sharp intellect and humility, and he was embraced for his authenticity and accessibility. This is amplified – again and again -- by his fellow scholars and teachers, and his students. And even more poignantly amplified by colleagues who were not organically associated with him.
Debu got his BS from Jadavpur University, and then consistent with his eclectic curiosity he got two master’s degrees – one in Operations Research from University of Rochester and the other in International Development and Regional Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Debu got his doctoral degree in Marketing and Applied Economics from University of Rochester -- and it was after his doctoral degree that Debu got his MS from MIT.
Before he joined the academic community, Debu worked as an Economist in the Development Economics Research Group at the World Bank. He funded this education -- after his doctoral degree -- to learn about development economics.
Consistent with his sense of gratitude and loyalty, Debu spent his entire academic life – almost 25 years -- at University at Buffalo. Dean Ananth Iyer recalls poignantly Debu's service and contributions to institution building. "We had a faculty retreat in September 2022, and I remember Debu sitting in the very front of the room, and participating extensively to help us understand how we could continue to be a strong research focused school. This was the week before he passed away, and this will be my memory of his dedication to excellence in research."
Debu was an ennobling human being, who gave so much of himself to others. Listen to Alan Dick, Debu’s colleague, and the Chair of the Marketing Department at University of Buffalo, “Debu had a special interest in righting wrongs, especially those arising from corruption or prejudice, or class. His work on slums was indicative of his interest in exposing shortcomings of systems that disadvantage certain categories of people. I remember having many discussions with him about the poverty, unfairness, and corruption that occurred in his home country and how that background had shaped his interests and career.”
And to Gurumurthy Kalyanaram (GK), a fellow MIT alumnus and a fellow academic, “I knew Debu largely through conferences – presentations and conversations -- and his research work. He was instinctively empathetic, large-hearted, kind, welcoming and understated. He demonstrated a keen sense of awareness and authentic care. His love for others was organic and central to his disposition.”
On Scholarship, listen to three remarkable scholars -- Sridhar Moorthy, Brian Ratchford and K. Sudhir – on what they have to say about the depth and impact of Debu’s scholarship. Debu’s intellectual output was innovative, elegant, eclectic, and advanced empirical and theoretical knowledge database, and the research was relevant to both business and policy decisions.
Sridhar Moorthy, Debu’s doctoral adviser and now the Manny Rotman Chair of Marketing at University of Toronto and a Fellow of INFORMS Society for Marketing Science has this to say, “Debu was my first Ph.D. student. My recollection is that he didn’t need much advising. Already an independent thinker when he entered the Ph.D. program at Rochester, all I had to do was get out of his way. From his Ph.D. thesis came a much-cited paper at Journal of Consumer Research, “Consumer Information Search Revisited: Theory and Empirical Analysis,” which we co-authored with Brian Ratchford.”
Brian Ratchford, a distinguished professor (emeritus) at The University of Texas at Dallas and former Editor-in-Chief of the premier scholarship journal, Marketing Science, “Debu’s work was always very creative, and it also demonstrated a very high degree of skill at modeling and empirical analysis. Debu made many contributions to the marketing and policy areas. Among Debu’s papers, one of my favorites is his paper on temporal and spatial search in JMR, which uses an elegant model and empirical analysis to demonstrate that grocery search can take place over time as well as across stores.”
K. Sudhir, James L. Frank ’32 Professor of Private Enterprise and Management at Yale University and former Editor-in-Chief of Marketing Science, “Debu was a true scholar in the most positive sense of that word. Understated in style, but thoroughly focused on the content and the correctness of his research. In our profession, he stands out for his creativity, flexibility and versatility in collecting and using observational data, survey data and experimental data. As needed for the research questions he worked on. He published in all of marketing’s major journals. Including Marketing Science, Management Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Marketing. Debu’s research also had a strong policy, development, and ethics component rooted in his ongoing consulting work at the World Bank. He published this research stream in Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, World Development, Urban Studies, and Journal of Business Ethics.”
The measure of a teacher is best reflected by his/her students. Debu was admired, respected, and loved by his students.
Satheesh Seenivasan, Senior Lecturer at Monash University and a doctoral student of Debu reflects on what made Debu a thoughtful mentor, “As a PhD advisor, he always pushed us to think about the contributions and added value of any new research idea and its conceptual backing before thinking of the methods. He insisted on PhD students acquiring a range of methodological skills – like a tradesman collecting tools in his toolbox – to be able to use the relevant tools when needed, advice that we have found very helpful in our careers. He was very meticulous, highly organized, and systematic in his approach to managing research and urged us to do the same. He valued the importance of real-world knowledge in building up to academic research. In one of my earliest interactions with him in the PhD program, he gave me a book that introduced the retailing industry in the US, which laid the groundwork for my subsequent research in the stream.”
Dinesh K. Gauri, Professor of Marketing and Walmart Chair in Marketing at University of Arkansas, and another doctoral student of Debu says that his success in academe is in substantial measure due to Debu’s mentorship. “I owe a lot to Prof. Debu as without his help and advice I would not be where I am today. Currently, I am at the University of Arkansas after spending 9 years at Syracuse. Dr. Debu was a great mentor to me and always pushed me to do better. He had immense grit and determination, and I cannot thank him enough for everything that he taught me during the program. He was a very honest and straight forward person. He used to always present so many good solutions to the problems and guided me and many other doctoral students in their academic careers.”
In part intimate, in part poignant, and in part affectionate, the reflections of Debu’s colleagues speak to his beautiful life and a sustained legacy.
Sudhir, "Beyond being a productive and versatile scholar and mentor, Debu was also an ultimate family man---a loving husband and a proud and caring father. Our family had the good fortune of knowing Debu’s family---his wife Nirmala, and daughter Maya, and we visited each other occasionally. Debu’s fatherly pride in Maya was brimming, but characteristically understated. She, of course, gave Debu ample reason to be proud with her brilliant scholastic achievements. Maya is now pursuing an MD-PhD at Harvard Medical School."
Brian, “He passed far too early, when he had much left to contribute, and his passing is a big loss for the field and those who knew him.”
Sridhar, “Above all, I would like to remember Debu as a wonderful human being. During his many visits to Toronto, we always found time to meet, often over a meal. Debu was bubbling with ideas and proud to talk about his daughter, Maya’s, latest achievements. His untimely passing is a tragedy, but I retain the hope that his influence will continue to be felt through his published work and the many students he mentored.”
Satheesh, “Personally, his unwavering moral and intellectual support during challenging times in my career, and his guidance with career decisions have been instrumental in shaping my career. It has been my great privilege working with him till the end. His early demise has left a great vacuum in the discipline and our lives which will be impossible to fill. However, he has trained and left behind a number of scholars who will carry on his work and legacy.”
Dinesh, “I will miss him very much. His teachings and memories will always stay with me.”
Kalyanaram, “Debu was a mensch. He was always on the side of goodness.”
Ananth and Alan summarize Debu’s institutional impact beautifully. Ananth, "We were the beneficiaries of Debu's commitment throughout his career, and we will continue to celebrate his memory." Alan, "It is still hard to accept that he is no longer here. But this institution (University at Buffalo) will carry forward the impact that he has had on us all well into the future.”
Sudhir offers this tribute to Debu's disposition and scholarship, "For me personally, Debu was a dear friend and my most frequent co-author. Outside of my dissertation committee, Debu was my first co-author along with Andrew Ainslie (another dear friend, who we lost this past April). Debu and I collaborated on five papers, and we published them in our field’s top journals over a span of 18 years, until I became Marketing Science Editor in 2016. Debu was the embodiment of calm, the no-drama coauthor, with whom creation of joint scholarship was truly pleasurable. The lack of drama was not for want of opportunity--one of our five papers which was finally published in Management Science lasted 8 years in the review process at three journals over seven rounds of review. Debu’s calmness and perseverance as we went through that eight-year marathon was a model for how scholars who believe in their research should persevere even when they face hurdles in the review process!"
Gurumurthy Kalyanaram
Dated: 5.24.2023, Updated 6.19.2023