Obituaries

Debabrata “Debu” Talukdar, professor of marketing in the School of Management, died Sept. 23. He was 59.

For nearly 24 years, Talukdar contributed significantly to the School of Management through his teaching, scholarship and service.

He taught marketing research, product management and special topic seminars at the undergraduate, MBA and doctoral levels. Talukdar created a graduate-level elective, “Business Management Implications of Sustainable Development,” as part of UB’s new Advanced Certificate in Sustainability. The class is also offered as an elective in UB’s MA in Sustainability Leadership program.

A renowned researcher, Talukdar explored key social and economic issues, including the high cost of living in Nairobi’s slums and published research with The World Bank showing a lack of access to basic infrastructure in several Kenyan cities. In addition, he worked closely with the UB RENEW Institute and studied consumer behavior around sustainability and economic development. His research has been cited by scholars in economics, environmental policy, public health, law, management and other fields.

Talukdar and his work also have been featured in various international, national and local media outlets, including the Associated Press, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, Forbes, Encyclopedia Britannica, HuffPost, The Atlantic and The Buffalo News.

He is the recipient of numerous research awards, including the Outstanding Graduate Thesis Award (1997) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UB’s Young Investigator – Exceptional Scholar Award (2002) and UB’s Sustained Research Achievement – Exceptional Scholar Award (2012).

Beyond academia, Talukdar enjoyed spending time with his family, traveling the world and working on a “never ending” woodland gardening project in the expansive woods of his backyard.