Training Institute MRII Seeks New Leader

Non-profit online MR training institute MRII has announced the forthcoming retirement of its Executive Director Reg Baker, and has formed a committee to search for a replacement.

MRII was founded in 1996 by a consortium of industry leaders and offers online market research courses covering the fundamental skills for the profession, to the standards of leading worldwide industry associations. The organisation partners with the University of Georgia, offering the Principles of Market Research, the Principles of Mobile Market Research and the Principles of Pharmaceutical Market Research, and has taught more than 8000 practitioners from 104 countries.

Baker (pictured), who took up the post in 2014 and intends to retire from it by the end of 2018, has been active in the research industry for almost 40 years, having served as President and COO of Market Strategies International prior to his initial retirement in 2012. He continues to be active in ESOMAR, the Insights Association, and AAPOR.

The search committee includes MRII Board members Dan Coates, President Jeffrey Henning, Jon Last, Michael Mermelstein, and Barry Watson, among others. Henning said of the news: 'I would like to thank Reg for his visionary leadership of the MRII during a time of tremendous change for the industry. Individuals are more driven than ever to seek education beyond that offered by their employers. The technologies of the web continue to enable us to produce more interactive course material. And our Millennial students demand practical lessons they can immediately apply to their work. Throughout 2018, Reg will continue to lead our updating of our courses to better address these changes, before beginning his well-earned retirement, which he had delayed to continue to serve the industry in this capacity'.

Baker himself comments: 'I am grateful to MRII for providing me with the opportunity to give something back to a profession and an industry that has been very good to me. Research quality has been a passion of mine stretching back over 30 years to my time at NORC at the University of Chicago. MRII has provided me the platform to continue that mission as we have worked to adapt the organization to meet new industry dynamics. I believe that MRII is well positioned to continue preparing market research professionals for success in a constantly changing landscape'.

Last says the Board is 'dedicated to finding a strong successor who will build on our record of providing comprehensive education in the overarching principles of the market research industry'.

Web sites: www.mrii.org and www.georgiacenter.uga.edu .