Gerard J. Tellis Jerry & Nancy Neely Chair in American Enterprise. He has a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). His bachelor's degree is in chemistry and his master's is in business administration. Previously he worked as a Sales Development Manager for Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for brand management, new product introduction and sales staff planning. He joined USC's Marketing Department in 1989 as an associate professor, and was promoted to professor in Spring 1993.

Professor Tellis is an expert in advertising & promotion, pricing and entry into new markets. He has published widely on these topics in many journals including the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Marketing Science and Sloan Management Review. His research on advertising has been noted in the professional and popular press, both nationally and internationally. He has won several awards for his research and teaching. In particular, he has recently won the Maynard Award for most significant contribution to Marketing thought in the Journal of Marketing, the Odell Award 1998 for best paper in the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Bass Award for best paper in Marketing Science. His recent book, Will and Vision: How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets, (co-authored with Peter Golder), was rated by Harvard Business Review as one of the best business books of 2001. He is on the editorial review board of the Journal of Marketing Research.

At USC, Professor Tellis teaches courses on Advertising & Promotion Strategy, Marketing Models and Philosophy of Marketing Science.