The Marketing Research Partnership Program started 10 years ago as a partnership between students and faculty at NKU.

With the help of the MRPP program, former marketing major Mirsada Kadiric was able to launch her career in the field of marketing research by getting a co-op. After graduating and landing a job, she has recently received the Young Researcher of the Decade award.

“It was a big surprise to me and while it doesn’t have a direct impact on my career, it is definitely a big deal to me personally,” Kadiric said. “It further validates my accomplishments in this industry.”

Marketing professor Aron Levin was proud of Kadiric after receiving the award.

“She is the perfect example of someone who comes here a student and has every opportunity, but doesn’t know quite what she wants to do,” he said. “Now I followed her through her career and she has just blossomed.”

“She is getting to be one of the names in this town in market research,” Levin said.

Kadiric became interested in marketing as an undergraduate student when taking two required marketing research courses as part of her major.

“That’s initially what piqued my interest and then through the MRPP program and Dr. Levin’s mentorship, I was sure that this was the field for me from a professional standpoint,” Kadiric said.

Levin feels that she has come a long way through the program.

“I saw her shaped from a shy young woman from a part of the world I didn’t know anything about, and she blossomed into someone with confidence,” he said.

In the MRPP program, she got a co-op with a local firm that led to a full-time position after she graduated from NKU with her marketing degree. Kadiric now works at Kao Brands Company in Cincinnati. Her favorite part of being a researcher is “being able to analyze data to support consumer behavior or identify an unmet need.”