Roberto “Bobby” Friedmann, associate professor of marketing in the Terry College of Business, died from pancreatic cancer Sept. 24. He was 58.
A native of Uruguay, Friedmann worked in private industry before entering academia. He joined the UGA faculty in 1984 as an assistant professor in the business college, where he earned tenure as an associate professor. For 12 years he served as the college’s director of International Business Programs.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economics and both an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business administration, all from the University of Kansas.
His work concerned the psychological meaning of products and brands, the role of psychological meaning in advertising and the organization of cognitive structures.
A popular teacher, Friedmann consistently received superior evaluations from his students. Katie Waters, a 2007 alumna of the business college, recalls that on the last day of class her senior year Friedmann handed out Rudyard Kipling’s Six Honest Serving Men. “He told us it was all we would need in the business world. It hangs above my desk still,” she said. “He always balanced his edge with compassion.”
Survivors include his wife, Liliana Jaso-Friedmann, and sons, Nicholas and Alexander. A memorial service for Friedmann was held Oct. 2. Memorial gifts to support pancreatic cancer research may be made at www.fight4bobby.org.
