The Complete Professor

Nikhilesh Dholakia and Ruby Roy Dholakia

University of Rhode Island

When we joined the doctoral program at Northwestern (yes, Northwestern…

it was still not “Kellogg” in those days) in the early 1970s, the feeling for some us –
especially coming from developing nations that were economically so far behind the
advanced West – was one of awe and wonder. We were sharing the academic
hallways with august, iconic, legendary figures like Kotler, Levy and Zaltman – and
having the stark realization that it was actually possible to engage these godlike
figures in discussion.

While for Ruby, with her prior undergraduate and MBA background from
Berkeley, things were not as alien, for Nik the whole “America” idea was exotic and
alien – somewhat like what Franz Kafka imagined in his novel “Amerika”, except
that Kafka never breathed the air and walked the soil of America. A compelling need
in those days was to find some toeholds, some social anchoring points, to navigate
the high-wire academia of the world’s premier research department of marketing
and to brace for the onslaught of the first bitter winter of Chicagoland. Friends and
colleagues in the doctoral program of course provided some of the most stable and
supportive planks. On the faculty side, while there was warm support all around, the
social anchoring provided by Sidney and Bobette Levy was incomparable.

The first sense – that as new doctoral students we were not alone, but part of
an academic family – came in the form of the Fall term mixer that the Levys used to
organize at their lovely Evanston home. Approaching that stately home near Lake
Michigan in Evanston for the first time, one expected to encounter a somber
drawing room and a carefully set formal banquet table. Instead, as soon as you
entered, you found a lively party in progress spread across many rooms, with
Bobette moving like a butterfly from group to group, and Sidney holding animated
discussion with the small circle around him. We, especially the neophyte doctoral
students, marveled at the fantastic, often amusing objets d’art and bric-a-brac from
every corner of the globe available in every corner of the living-dining-den areas.
The food was plentiful and delicious, the bar was open and well stocked, and the
merry evening ran into late hours. These parties left indelible memories of the
Levys as maestros of casual entertainment for all – people ranging from global
gurus to fresh doctoral admits.

For many years, Sidney managed the doctoral program in marketing at

Northwestern. Although neither of us had Sidney as our doctoral advisor, he was –
at a basic level – the main advisor for all of us in the program until the final
dissertation stage. His door was always open to us when we had issues of how to
cope with the demands and intricacies of the doctoral program. And since we saw
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Bobette at many social events, she became a backup secondary advisor to us in the
doctoral program.

It is interesting to reflect also on the style of Sidney the seminar leader. We

took cutting-edge doctoral seminars from cutting-edge researchers: Gerry Zaltman
on Social Marketing, Lou Stern on Channel Theory, and so on. Every one of these
seminars opened not just our eyes, but like the magical “Open Sesame” chant of
Arabian Nights, opened treasure troves of new approaches and literature to us.

With Sidney, many of us did the basic behavioral seminar. His reading packs
were not as burdensome as that of some of the other professors. In the seminar
room, the discussions had totally naturalistic tenor – not too different than the
discussions in those small circles around Sidney in those memorable parties. When
we left the room, we left in high spirits – stimulated and curious.

There was a “sleeper” effect. In most cases, a couple of days elapsed before
it hit us… Bam…!!

In the three hours that we had spent a couple of days prior with Sidney, it
began to dawn on us, we had suddenly developed deep insights into some complex
social, psychological, and cultural phenomena. When we were in the seminar room
engaged in “conversations”, we did not realize what was happening – we were just
having fun, hanging on to every amusing turn of phrase that Sidney is so good at.
Without our conscious awareness, Sidney – in a stealth fashion – planted complex
and deeply impactful ideas in our heads. That type of effortless communication of
ideas – we have not seen since, except in those few occasions when we have again
been fortunate enough to listen to Sidney’s talks.

In 1976, after our doctorates, we were working at the Indian Institute of

Management in Calcutta, and we got communication from Sidney and Bobette that
they were planning a unique global trip. They were going to stop in as many cities
around the globe as possible where Northwestern doctoral alumni were working. Of
course, they put Calcutta (now called Kolkata) on their itinerary. We were delighted.
We of course organized a talk by Sidney at the Indian Institute of Management. And
we also booked a classic, old Ambassador car with a driver from the Institute’s fleet,
and took Sidney and Bobette on a tour of the bustling, sweaty metropolis of
Calcutta. We recall taking them to Calcutta’s old and popular Tandoori restaurant
Amber, without reservations, and squeezing into a table in the crowded dining
room. Many westerners we know would have felt a bit uncomfortable at such a
popular and busy restaurant in a bustling, strange Asian city. Not the Levys. They
felt right at home and enjoyed the evening out.

One of the best times we got to spend with Levys – with just Sidney and
Bobette – was on the idyllic island of Bali, Indonesia. Ruby was co-chairing the
Marketing and Development conference in New Delhi, India – in 1991, days when
India’s infrastructure was very underdeveloped. Sidney had agreed to be part of a
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keynote panel, and Bobette accompanied him for this trip. Bobette suggested that
after the hectic conference days in the bustle of India, it would be good idea to
spend a few days in Bali and unwind; and we agreed. Weeks before the travel
began, Bobette sent a single-spaced 12-page itinerary of how we should spend our
days in Bali – visiting the fabled temples and art villages. Remember, this was in the
days before computers and the Internet – yes, it was a typed itinerary, developed
through meticulous research of multiple travel books. It had little gems like “…and
when we turn into the lane in Ubud village, we will see the famous weaver at his
open-air loom, in the garden of his village home”. You better believe it… we did turn
into that lane when we were in Bali, and saw that weaver exactly the way Bobette’s
typed notes had indicated!

When the Levys moved to Tucson, we had some occasions to visit them at
their lovely southwestern home, nestled amongst the hills of southern Arizona. The
little Tucson home was as delightful as the big mansion in Evanston – with the
added advantage of a warm swimming pool in the backyard, which the Levys kept
at very comfortable 80-degrees Fahrenheit, even in mid-winter. We delighted at the
prospect of going through the ever-growing collection of Ganesha statues, musician
marionettes, and Native American jewelry at their home.

When Bobette left us, it was a shock – and of course a shock of unimagined
intensity for Sidney. It took years, but we saw him gradually reengage – and travel,
and speak, and write, and guide. It is vintage Sidney – like good wine, mellower and
better with age.

At all campuses we have worked at – Indian Institute of Management, Kansas

State University (a brief stint of only two years), and University of Rhode Island –
and at conferences we have chaired, we have invited Sidney to come and speak. If
no pressing constraints stood in the way, he has always accepted these invitations
and made the time for us. He remains a guiding star – even decades after we left
his department and program. That, to us, represents the Complete Professor.