Bob Samples: exceeding expectations

Industry experience is something that nearly all Haworth College of Business faculty bring to the classroom, and Bob Samples’ career experience, in food marketing and sales, has benefited his students hugely throughout his nine years at WMU. Samples started his second career in academia after more than 30 years with Hormel Foods.

He began his career with Hormel in 1981, with his biggest professional break coming after getting his MBA in 1990, when he became the marketing brand manager for all breakfast meats. That role allowed him to work across all departments of the company including research, operations, finance and legal. Following that, Samples became the youngest person to take on an executive sales management role at the time in Atlanta. Eventually, he returned to Hormel’s corporate headquarters where he ran category management, shopper marketing and order to cash processes. His final role at Hormel was also a significant promotion to vice president of Hormel’s West Coast divisions.

Throughout his time in executive roles, Samples also served as the corporate liaison to Western Michigan University, supporting Hormel’s hiring efforts. That experience sparked Samples’ interest in becoming a faculty member one day. While still at Hormel, he worked with Western, DePaul and leaders from several food companies to develop a set of certification standards for category management, which helped solidify WMU’s leadership and competitive advantage in food marketing education as category management certification became part of the curriculum.

Samples took an early retirement from Hormel so that he could achieve his goal of becoming a faculty member at WMU, and he joined the Department of Marketing in 2014. He has progressed from lecturer to tenured faculty specialist II and is now retiring from his second career.

What surprised Samples about teaching after a career in industry? Three things stand out to him.

• Autonomy: “The autonomy to pick my materials and how I delivered lessons was surprising and welcome. In my first classes, I took the guidance of past professors on selecting the most common materials. Over time, I found that other sources, especially free online educational documents, would benefit the student more and challenge me to dive deeper into the material. This was the best choice to help students learn relevant information. It also enabled me to use more of my industry experience to best prepare students for their future careers.”
• Engagement: “The level of student and faculty engagement at WMU is a joy to see. As an undergraduate in the ‘70s, I rarely had the level of engagement with my professors that nearly all students enjoy at Western. I found that small group meetings, working with student organizations, helping students one on one and supporting co-curricular events like case competitions was where I spent much of my time and effort. Activities such as role-plays in the sales lab and guest speakers also added a great sense of value and reward for students and for me. It’s gratifying to see recent graduates become top performers in their companies due to these experiences.”
• Grading: “I had heard the adage that we ‘teach for free but get paid to grade.’ This semester I am giving three essay exams in the capstone strategy classes for both food marketing and sales. I give essay exams because it’s important that students are able to understand and articulate concepts in this way. The result is spending about sixty hours per exam on evaluation and grading. At the end of the semester when students are surveyed, they highly favor the essay exam methodology.”

Samples finds that seeing students rise above the level they thought possible for themselves to be the most fulfilling part of teaching. “When a student surpasses their own expectations, it creates a sense of making a breakthrough and of greater self-worth,” he says. “While every class has the opportunity to illicit this feeling, I have seen it often in the professional selling classes and capstone strategy classes for food marketing and sales.”

Samples hopes that students take away three core concepts from his courses.

• You never succeed alone.
• Your only limits are what you apply to yourself.
• Always do the right thing.

Samples himself has a takeaway from teaching that echoes what he hopes students learn in his courses. “There is such a sense of accomplishment in helping others succeed—in both their careers and in their lives. By supporting students wholeheartedly, I have gotten a glimpse of their evolution into exceptional adults and business professionals. Being a professor has exceeded my expectations.”

Beyond the classroom, Samples has had a variety of pivotal experiences during his time at WMU including: participating in the WMU Food Marketing and Supply Chain Conference, coaching food marketing students to first and second place finishes at the National Grocers Association Foundation Student Case Study Competition, collaborating on academic research with fellow faculty members and serving on the college’s strategic planning committee. And he counts working with faculty and staff to deliver excellent student learning experiences—in all contexts—among his proudest accomplishments.

In retirement, he plans to spend time with his family members ranging in age from 96 to 6. He also plans to spend time with his wife (who is also his best friend), going on new adventures and developing their interests together.