Timothy Malefyt

About Timothy Malefyt

Timothy de Waal Malefyt (PhD Anthropology, Brown) is Clinical Professor of Marketing at Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University. Previously, he held executive positions as VP, Director of Consumer Insights at BBDO and D’Arcy advertising agencies, where he led teams to explore cultural approaches to consumer research for developing brand and strategic insights. Tim was conference co-organizer for the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC 2014) and has hosted the Business Anthropology Summit (2019) and AAA Career Readiness Commission Conference (2022) at Gabelli. His five books include Advertising Cultures (2003); Advertising and Anthropology (2012); Ethics in the Anthropology of Business (2017); Magical Capitalism (2018); and Women, Consumption and Paradox (2020), as well as numerous other publications. A Fulbright award grantee, he enjoys frequent presentations at conferences, and serves on a number of editorial boards.

Translating Anthropology to Employers, Clients, and Hiring Managers

My Job Interview for Fordham Business School Back in 2011, as an anthropologist, I was employed at BBDO advertising, after years of working in similar agencies as director of consumer insights. I wanted to make the ‘jump’ to academia. I thought the skills and practices that I learned in consumer research could be taught in a business school. So, to make an academic connection, I contacted one of the senior account directors at BBDO, Paul Reilly, who had received his undergraduate degree at Fordham and was on the Fordham Business School advisory board in NYC. I asked Paul if he could [...]