John Robert Foster

John Robert (Bob) Foster, Ph. D., 77 years old, has joined our Lord and peacefully passed away in El Paso on May 8, 2012 with his beloved family by his side. Dr. Bob Foster joined the University of Texas at El Paso College of Business Administration in 1972 and remained until his retirement in 2010. During his long tenure, he served as Chairman of the Department of Business, Chairman of the Department of Marketing, as well as the Assistant Graduate Dean of the Graduate School. He was the MBA graduate advisor who helped establish the UTEP MBA program in 1973. Teaching was his passion and one of his favorite elements was hosting in-class formal student debates on key marketing and global business issues. He stressed the logic and importance of business ethical behavior and corporate social responsibility to a functioning economy. Dr. Foster was a popular professor with a sense of humor dedicated to his students. He enjoyed participating in many campus committees and activities. He was recognized as the Department of Marketing and Management Professor of the Year in 2002 for Excellence in Instruction from the UTEP Business College Council. Prior to joining UTEP, Dr. Foster served as an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of South Carolina from 1964-72. He served as editor for the USC Business and Economic Review Journal. Before that, he was an Assistant Professor of Business at Western Kentucky State University from 1962-64. He was a published author writing numerous academic papers, essays, chapters, and a marketing textbook. In 1956 he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in Journalism (Advertising). From 1956-58 he proudly served his country at the U.S. Army Air Defense School, stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso. Afterwards, he earned his MBA in 1960 and completed his Doctorate in Business Administration in 1966, both from Indiana University in Bloomington. Dr. Foster was a member of the American Marketing Association, Society for Marketing Advances, Phi Gamma Nu, Alpha Delta Sigma, Beta Gamma Sigma, and Alpha Sigma Phi. He was also active for over 35 years in the Rotary Club of El Paso and served as a Director from 1983-85. He was an avid reader of history, current affairs, and business. He was especially knowledgeable about the American Revolution. He was proud of his family heritage and enjoyed genealogy research. He appreciated the outdoors and was an adult leader of El Paso Boy Scout Troop 44. He was a huge fan of UTEP Miner basketball. He also liked model railroading. He was an only child born on November 22, 1934 in Tacoma, Washington to his caring parents Herbert Hughes Foster and Mattie Agatha (Littlefield) Foster, who belonged to Daughters of the American Revolution. He primarily grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Classsen High School in 1952. While attending IU, he met his future wife Joanne, and they married in August 1960 in her hometown of Bristol, Connecticut. Together they had three sons: Robert, and twin brothers James and John. Dr. Foster is preceded in death by his parents and survived by his loving wife and children, who all miss him dearly. Visitation will be held from 9:30 thru 11 a.m. on Friday, May 18 at Harding-Orr and McDaniel Funeral Home at 320 Montana Ave. The funeral service will follow at 11:30 a.m. at the Trinity First United Methodist Church at 801 N. Mesa, with a memorial luncheon afterwards at the church. Interment will be on Saturday, May 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the Ruidoso Hondo Valley Memorial Park Cemetery, Mile Marker 267.5, HWY 70, Ruidoso Downs, NM. Condolences may be sent to the Foster family in care of www.FunerariaDelAngelHarding.com. Memorial donations are encouraged in memory of Dr. Foster to the American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org.