Earl Honeycutt21 // � e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders

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GET TO KNOWEarl Honeycutt

Arrived at Elon in 2002

Hometown: Concord, NC

Earl HoneycuttThere are dozens of Coke cans lining the bookcase and walls of Earl

Honeycutt’s offi ce, and there are more cans in his home. Each can is different. One is twice the size of a regular can. One is smaller and thinner. Some of the writing and logos are written in English, many are not, but each is red and white. Honeycutt, a professor of marketing, has traveled to more than 40 countries, and each time he brings back an empty Coca-Cola can.

He collects them as a memento of his travels and began using them in his classes to help his students understand the power of marketing the same product throughout the world. He also believes the greatest lessons are those learned while studying in and visiting other countries.

“The hardest part about going abroad is opening your mind,” Honeycutt said. “There are many different ways of doing something. That’s what education should be for students.”

Honeycutt’s interest in different cultures sprang from his fi rst trip abroad to the Philippines for the Vietnam War. To avoid the draft, Honeycutt joined the Air Force after high school.

“They were drafting 50,000 men a month,” Honeycutt said. “I would have been high on the draft list.”

While in the Air Force, Honeycutt said he learned many lifelong lessons. “It taught me responsibility, effi ciency and to get the job done,” he said.

“There’s no excuse for not getting something done. If you didn’t show up for the job, you went to jail.”

Honeycutt said the Air Force also taught him how to work with people from all different types of backgrounds. Some were very poor and turned to service as a way out of poverty, while some were fi nancially stable. Cadets came from all over the United States, and he learned how to work with people from different cultures while abroad. Honeycutt said through traveling he learned to work with people from every possible social stratum in the world, something he hopes his students will one day learn.

He strives to be more than just a fi gure in the front of the room, but a mentor to his students as well. He always tells students to do something they feel passionate about, that way it never feels like work.

“I always try to know all of my students. I memorize faces and ask them questions before class starts,” he said. “Elon is concerned about student success. Work hard to mentor the students and prepare them for success. Elon is more student-focused than most schools. You get to know students better. [It] gives you the ability to mentor the students.”

Honeycutt fl ew for his last time in 1979 and then returned to pursue an

education using the GI Bill. His undergraduate and master’s degrees are not in business, but in history.

At the time, liberal arts professors were not needed, Honeycutt said. He decided to go back to school. He attended the University of Georgia, where he earned an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing, because “it is the closest form of business to liberal arts.”

Honeycutt worked in the business fi eld before beginning his 28 year long teaching career. He taught at two other institutions before arriving at Elon in 2002. He was director of the Ph.D. program at Old Dominion University and was a tenured faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Honeycutt grew up in the small town of Concord, NC, where textile mills were prominent and citizens were content with never venturing far from their birthplace. He never dreamed there was more to the world than what his eyes showed him every day.

“Most people grew up and got married. Education wasn’t very important,” Honeycutt said. “I am very fortunate to have traveled and have a career.”

One of the greatest challenges about having a successful career, Honeycutt said, is balancing work with family. He learned early in life the implications of putting work before family. He spent his childhood longing for quality time with his father, but he was too busy working to play a game of catch or to take his son fi shing. Honeycutt always wanted to put his family fi rst.

“You really have to work hard to be successful,” he said. “Sometimes that comes at a price if you are not careful. No matter what you do, you’re always a dad or a grandpa.”

Honeycutt feels that it is extremely important to plan things as a family and make sure the family spends time together.

“We do things as a family once or twice a year,” Honeycutt said. “I always ask my wife before I start writing a book, because it takes so long.”

Although family is extremely important, Honeycutt’s career has never suffered. His accolades are too numerous to count. Thirteen plaques of his accomplishments are strategically placed on the wall near his desk. His most recent award came in 2008. He was named an Elon University Distinguished Scholar.

Honeycutt refers to himself as a writer. To date, he has published more than 175 articles and co-authored four textbooks on marketing.

Honeycutt encourages mistakes and making plenty of them. “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not doing very much,” he said.

Story By Samantha King

BUY THE WORLD A PROFESSOR

� e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders // 22