Timothy J. Gilbride, Steve and Anne Odland Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, died Jan. 12 of cancer. He was 52.
His research focused on the development of Bayesian statistical methods to assist researchers and managers to better understand consumer preferences and to make decisions under uncertainty. Gilbride taught courses in marketing research at both the undergraduate and graduate level. His many research and teaching awards included the Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Outstanding Professor of the Year Award for the Traditional MBA Program and the Poets & Quants’ 2018 “Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors.”
“Tim is a role model and an inspiration for all Notre Dame faculty,” said Shankar Ganesan, John Cardinal O’Hara, C.S.C., Professor of Business and chair of the marketing department. “He was an excellent researcher, an award-winning teacher, mentor to students and faculty, a friend to many and, above all, a truly outstanding departmental citizen and colleague. To wit, after recent brain surgery, he was in his office working and preparing for the next week’s class. This was typical Tim. I was in total admiration and respect for his passion and dedication to students and teaching. I will miss Tim dearly.”
Gilbride was known in the college for his relentlessly positive attitude and commitment to his Catholic faith and to his family. In spring 2014, three years after his initial cancer diagnosis, he wrote an essay for Mendoza Business magazine titled, “The Mathematics of Hope.”
“I remember visiting Tim when he was hospitalized for one of his operations,” said Roger Huang, Kenneth R. Meyer Professor of Global Investment Management and former dean of the Mendoza College of Business. “His prognosis was not good, but he surprised me with his good spirits. We ended up talking about his future teaching and research plans! We bumped into each other many times during the past few years. He never failed to inspire me with his passion and commitment to work, family and life.”
Gilbride, who joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2004, majored in economics at the University of Dayton and earned an MBA from Ohio State University. He worked in marketing research and consulting at Goodyear, Booz Allen Hamilton and Aetna before earning his Ph.D. in business administration from Ohio State.
“Tim was a patriot, a triple-threat inspiration whose dedication to teaching, research and service helped us build a scholarly community as humane as it is intellectual,” said John Sherry Jr., Raymond W. and Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Marketing. “He embodied all the virtues we hope to instill in the sons and daughters of Notre Dame. A thoughtful, interesting and down-to-earth guy, Tim’s reassuring presence will be missed by us all.”
“I admired Tim as a conscientious colleague, brilliant scholar, superb teacher and a fine, fine human being,” said William Wilkie, Aloysius and Eleanor Nathe Professor of Marketing Strategy. “His presence at Notre Dame elevated us in the field, yet he was always ready to pitch in with sage insights. And when I passed by his open office door, I’d regularly see him tutoring a student over the quantitative mysteries at hand. He will be missed.”
A native of Medina, Ohio, Gilbride is survived by wife Teresa and three children, Harrison, Helen and Hope.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 16) at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, Indiana, with Rev. Eric Burgener officiating. Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 15) in the McGann Hay Granger Funeral Chapel, 13260 State Road 23, Granger, Indiana. The family will also receive friends one hour prior to the Mass at the church. Cremation will follow with burial at a later date at Cedar Grove Cemetery at Notre Dame.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the St. Vincent DePaul Society at St. Pius X. To extend private condolences to the family, log on to www.McGannHay.com.