CoB Family, 

After 40 years of dedicated work at the CoB, Mark Eakin has decided to retire at the end of this semester. This truly marks (no pun intended) the end of an era for the Information System and Operational Management (ISOM) department. ISOM and the College of Business is certainly losing a faculty member and friend. Mark’s many contributions to ISOM and the CoB, however, will continue to be felt long past his retirement date. Congratulations, Mark, on your retirement! Through your commitment and dedication, you have made such a difference in the lives of so many students. You demonstrated that it is possible to make a meaningful impact in someone's life – all it takes is someone who cares about the next generation of business leaders. 

Mark joined the CoB in 1980 as an Assistant Professor after earning his Masters and PhD in statistics from Texas A&M University. Mark received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Tarleton State College. Mark’s tenure with the College has been highlighted by many accolades, including noteworthy contributions to Statistics research that has earned him a significant number of awards throughout the years including the CoB Distinguished Research Publication Award (2004) and the Decision Sciences Institute’s Outstanding Achievement Award for the best interdisciplinary paper – “A Graphical Decision Support Tool for Medical Diagnosis: Cuts Costs While Improving Quality in Pilot Study” (1995).  

Mark’s commitment to our students has been repeatedly recognized throughout his career.  He received the CoB Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award (5 years total – 1982, 1986, 1993, 1996, and 2014), the CoB Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (2006) as well as being a Member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2004-2011) which is the highest recognition of teaching excellence bestowed by the University. While I’ve only had the pleasure of working with Mark since 2018, I will always remember a conversation we had shortly after I arrived on campus. Mark’s heartfelt remarks about the College, and especially his colleagues, are reflective of the values that have made the College of Business what it is. As my previous boss, Ray Hunt, often said, “we were standing on the shoulders of those giants that came before us”. This is certainly true in Mark’s case. 

Mark, your retirement is well deserved after being a member of over 80 doctoral dissertation committees! It's wonderful that you have helped so many students take their next step in gaining knowledge and I applaud you for your efforts. 

We will all miss your smiling face and hope that you'll drop by to visit us when you have the time. 

Best regards, 

Harry