The CBA community is deeply saddened by the death of CBA alumnus and benefactor, Gary L. Taylor ’75, ’77, on Saturday, March 2, 2013.
Taylor, founder of the telemarketing services company, InfoCision Management Corporation, earned both his bachelor’s (1975) and MBA (1977) degrees from the CBA. He began his career working for Rex Humbard Ministries, eventually becoming director of marketing. In 1982, Taylor left Humbard and founded InfoCision which is now the second-largest privately owned direct marketing company in the world and one of the leading employers in Northeast Ohio.
In 2004, Taylor and his wife, Karen, established the Gary L. and Karen S. Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing in the CBA with a gift of $3.6 million. The 25,000 sq. ft. complex is recognized as one of the most sophisticated direct and interactive marketing facilities in the country.
The Taylors have also funded scholarships for CBA students and, in 2009, contributed $10 million for 20-year naming rights for the newly constructed UA football stadium.
CBA dean, Ravi Krovi, expressed the feelings of CBA faculty, staff and students:
“Gary Taylor was a dynamic entrepreneur and a direct marketing visionary who successfully led his company to become the leading provider of multichannel marketing solutions. He was one of our most successful graduates and a longtime friend of the CBA. We are forever grateful to Gary for his extraordinary support and generosity to the college and the university.”
Taylor was awarded the CBA’s Dr. Frank L. Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award in 2003. Also in that year, he was honored with the Pioneers Lifetime Achievement Award for his positive impact on the teleservice industry.
In 2005, Taylor received the American Teleservices Association Pioneer Award and the Direct Marketing Association Teleservice Excellence Award. He was also recognized by Ernst and Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year for the services industry and was inducted into the Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame.
The University of Akron awarded Taylor the Alumni Honor Award in 2006, the highest honor awarded to alumni by the University.
Media coverage:
InfoCision Management founder Gary Taylor dead at 59
InfoCision founder Gary Taylor dies
InfoCision Management Founder Gary L. Taylor, 59