Faculty Profile - Dr. Andrew Abela

Dr. Andrew Abela

Dr. Andrew Abela is the Chairman of the Department of Business & Economics, and Associate Professor of Marketing.

His research centers on the integrity of the marketing process, including marketing ethics, Catholic Social Teaching, and internal communication, and has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the Journal of Business Ethics. He is a regular contributor to the Legatus Magazine “Ethics Matters” column, and is currently working on a Catechism for Business. Dr. Abela is also the Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the American Marketing Association, and was the recipient of the 2009 Novak Award, a $10,000 prize given by the Acton Institute for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and    

                                          economic liberty.”

Dr. Abela consults to several major corporations on marketing and internal communications issues. Recent clients include ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Burger King, HJ Heinz, eBay, and Kimberly-Clark. Prior to his academic career, he spent several years in industry, as the Managing Director of the Marketing Leadership Council, a management consultant with McKinsey & Co., and a brand manager at Procter & Gamble.

Dr.Abela has an MBA from the Institute for Management and Development (IMD) in Switzerland, and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Ethics from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia.  He and his wife Kathleen have been married for thirteen years.  They have six children and live in Great Falls, Virginia.  Dr. Abela was born and raised on the island of Malta and is a citizen of the United States. 

CUA in Rome

    

    

      Dr. Abela recently led a contingent of CUA students that  

      studied in Rome during the spring semester.

    

     

      Below is an insight into the driving force behind business excellence and education at Catholic University. 

SM: What was your first job out of college?

AA: Brand Assistant in the Advertising Department at Procter & Gamble in Canada.   

       My brand was Secret women's deodorant...

SM: That must have been a great learning experience!

SM:  What did you want to be when you grew up?

AA:  At age 10 I read C. Northcote Parkinson's book Parkinson's Law, and decided 

        that management sounded like fun and so I wanted to grow up to be a business

        executive.

        (It was only several years later that I realized that the book was a spoof.)

SM: It is?

SM:  What’s your favorite restaurant in D.C.?

AA:  Restaurant Nora, America's first certified organic restaurant. And the food is 

        outstandingly good.

SM: As we experienced recently!  Thanks you for the nice evening Dr. Abela.

Dr. Abela and son Dominic

SM: What do you do in your free time?

AA: Free time? With a department to run, courses to teach,  consulting clients to work with, and six children to raise, I'm not aware of any. But I do get to spend a few 

hours sailing on the Chesapeake every now and then...

SM: What is your favorite sport and why?

AA: Sailing. Because it is absorbing and peaceful at the same time. In terms of spectator sports I enjoy watching soccer and baseball. In my free time...

SM: Bring the kids to a Nats game with our MSBA class

                                                        this fall.

SM: What was your worst job growing up?

AA: I can't honestly think of any. I've been blessed in that I've enjoyed all the jobs I 

      had while in high school and college (accounting clerk, computer programmer, 

      salesman) and that each job I've had since I've enjoyed more than the one I had

      before (which is why I changed jobs each time).

With CUA Prsident John Garvey

SM: Why is the MSBA program important to you?

AA: I am a big fan of liberal arts education and I think that

      business desperately needs the wisdom of the liberal 

      arts.

      I realized long ago that most businesses are not   

      visionary enough to recognize the value in such an

      education. The MSBA provides the springboard to 

      launch liberal arts students into a successful

      business career.

Dr. Abela IS the visionary behind the MSBA program 

and many more important innovations to come at Catholic University.  

Keep tuned to this space as we reveal those over the coming months.

Stewart McHie
Program Director, MSBA
mchie@cua.edu