Roger Blackwell


Roger Blackwell, Ph.D., is an American marketing expert, well-recognized in his field, and an international public speaker - he has lectured to executive groups on six continents. He was described in the New York Times as one of America's top speakers on business and marketing, along with Daniel Burrus and Tom Peters. He has served on the board of directors for multiple public and private companies, most prominently Max & Erma's Restaurant, Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, and Worthington Foods. Blackwell was a long-time marketing professor at , on whose board Blackwell served, discussed a possible merger with the . During the time the merger was discussed, the stock price of Worthington dropped to half its eventual sale price and 6,000 people bought shares, including hundreds of associates of Worthington directors and employees. Two included an employee of Roger’s consulting firm and her husband, who bought additional shares in the IRA accounts. Roger and they were convicted of insider trading. Blackwell made nothing on the purchases, but received a six-year prison sentence and a fine of one million dollars. Throughout this process and continuing today, Blackwell maintains his innocence, believing his policy of not commenting about board meetings was the appropriate response to people who asked about the company. Today, Blackwell is a frequent speaker to corporate seminars and university classes on behavioral economics, marketing and ethics.