Dr. William R. Bennett, 1918-2005
Professor William R. Bennett, circa 1940
Emeritus Professor of Marketing and International Business at The University of Alabama and Founder and Director Emeritus of the William R. Bennett International Trade Center
Born in 1918, Bennett entered the Army after graduating from Birmingham Southern in 1939. He completed tours in both Europe and the Pacific before returning to the United States. He earned an MBA at LSU in 1947 and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1950. Dr. Bennett joined the faculty at the University of Alabama and taught and worked there for thirty-three years. He was the Director of the Graduate School of Business, Associate Dean, and the Director of the Alabama International Trade Center. In 1983 he retired as Professor of Marketing and International Business. In recognition of his remarkable career, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama and the university trustees renamed the Alabama International Trade Center in his honor.