Akshay R. Rao

Akshay R. Rao is a Professor and General Mills Chair in Marketing at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. He holds a PhD in Marketing from Virginia Tech and has served as founding Director of the Institute for Research in Marketing (2005-2010) and Chairman of the Marketing & Logistics Management Department (2003-2006). Rao has also held visiting positions at MIT and Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

• Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Honors), Madras University (1978)
• Master of Business Administration in Marketing, XLRI - Xavier School of Management (1980)
• Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1986)

Rao's research spans consumer behavior, pricing strategy, brand management, and political marketplace segmentation, with recent work examining vaccine hesitancy, political ideology effects on consumer behavior, and fake news dynamics. His work appears in top journals including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, and Harvard Business Review, covering topics from neuromarketing to information economics.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Robert Ferber Award (1987)
• Harold Maynard Award (2000)
• Distinguished Alumnus, XLRI (2011)

He has testified before the Federal Trade Commission and served on editorial boards of Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing. Beyond academia, Rao consults for global firms like 3M and Medtronic, and has conducted the Minnesota Orchestra twice in 2024-2025.