MRII appoints Stark as president

Stark will replace Stephanie Harris, who will remain on the MRII board of directors in the role of immediate past president.

Before taking up her new role at MRII, Stark had served on the organisations board of directors since 2015.

Stark has held senior positions at companies including AOL, M/A/R/C Research and Phoenix Marketing International, and founded consultancy Stark Solutions in 2010.

The board of directors of MRII also named Dr Paul Hunter as the president of MRII in 2023, succeeding Stark.

Hunter is professor at Miami University (of Ohio) and a principal at Oxford Analytics, focusing on secondary research and emerging research technologies.

Shelly Ray, vice-president at MMR Research Associates, will continue as treasurer of MRII.

Eight new board members have also joined MRII for 2022: Charlie Farr, Chick-fil-A; Jenn Perry, Chadwick Martin Bailey; Larni Paras, Edelman Data and Intelligence; Mario Carasco, Think Now; Rahul Jain, Microsoft; Scott Beck, Xavier University, Wendy Rosen, Cox Communications; and Dan Fleetwood, QuestionPro.

MRII was founded in 1996 by a taskforce of the Marketing Research Association (MRA) as a non-profit organisation based at the University of Georgia to develop an independent study programme for the market research industry.

Dr Stephen Kraus, executive director at MRII, said: “We are proud of the continuity among our senior leadership team, who continue to be willing to serve in a volunteer capacity, and allow the organisation to benefit from their experience.

“At the same time, we are excited to bring in new members who reflect the diversity of our profession in terms of experience, expertise, and background. Our board reflects the best of both worlds.”