UC Sales Center Names New Director

Jane Sojka, associate professor-educator of marketing, has been named director of the UC Sales Center in the Lindner College of Business.

The center, established in 2011, offers a professional sales minor for students in any major who desire sales knowledge and practice.

Lindner College of Business Dean David M. Szymanski said Sojka’s appointment adds additional strength to a solid program.

“The new Lindner College of Business Sales Center is uniquely positioned to be the centerpiece in Cincinnati and beyond for creating the next generation of business leaders in the selling profession," he says.  "Through Dr. Sojka’s leadership and expertise, I am confident the center will be the region’s platform for both undergraduate and executive programs of excellence in personal selling."

Sojka, whose doctoral dissertation was on women in relationship selling careers, developed the program to include courses in sales and management. Together with Joy Murphy, director of corporate relations at the Lindner College of Business, she has fostered relationships with more than 30 new sales contacts to make classroom visits, share knowledge and recruit professional sales students from UC. As part of the sales center experience, she began a sales leaders program and oversees a varsity sales team, an elite group of students who represent the UC Sales Center in national competitions and presentations to sales executives.

As a service to students and regional firms, Sojka and Murphy have begun sponsoring career fairs to match students seeking sales careers and internships with companies in need of qualified salespeople. The initial “speed-dating” event introduces 30 top sales students with 30 company recruiters for three-minute meetings for an ultimate networking opportunity.

Sojka’s appointment brings a unique blend of theory and practice when training UC sales students, says Karen Machleit, professor and department head of marketing.

“Her cutting edge research on the sales process has been published in leading academic journals, and she brings this knowledge into the classroom with an amazing enthusiasm for student learning,” Machleit says.

Sojka received a doctorate and master’s degree in marketing from Washington State University and Wichata State University, respectively, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University. Prior to teaching marketing, she worked as a materials manager and in purchasing and sales at the Coleman Company, a leading brand in outdoor recreation products.