[Robert Taylor’s](https://www.masters.edu/faculty/robert-taylor) life has served as a spotlight on God’s providence.
That’s true whether you’re talking about the way Taylor came to faith in Christ as a student at a state university; the beginning of his 30-year career at a multinational pharmaceutical company; or the way those experiences prepared him for his current role as an assistant professor of business at The Master’s University.
Born in San Diego, Taylor enrolled at a local university as an electrical engineering major. When that proved to be more than he was interested in tackling, he switched to the philosophy program.
“I was confused and searching,” Taylor says. “I grew up nominally Christian, but I was pretty much an atheist in my heart.”
But he happened to work in an on-campus store with a girl he liked, and this girl, named Mary, happened to be a believer.
“I remember when we were starting to become friends, I said, ‘You would never date me, would you? Because I’m not a Christian?,’” Taylor recalls. “And she said, ‘No, I wouldn’t.’ But we were friends. I was asking her all these theology questions all the time, and she just kept giving me books. And the Lord opened my eyes rapidly during that time.”
Taylor ultimately graduated with a degree in communication and married Mary. He interviewed with Merck, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Of course, his educational background was not in medicine. But he had one leg up.
“I worked for a biotech company while I was in college. I worked in the shipping department, so I knew nothing about science – but I knew how to pronounce all of these names of bacteria. So when I was interviewing with Merck, I was able to pronounce things like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which made me sound smart.”
Merck hired him, and for the next 30 years he served the company up and down the West Coast in a variety of regional sales and marketing roles.
Early on, he took the opportunity to go back to school and earn his MBA. And along the way, the Taylors were blessed with a daughter and son, who they homeschooled.
“As a homeschooling family, my wife did the majority of the teaching, but I was the principal and janitor,” Taylor says. “I’ve always had an orientation toward teaching with my family. But then also, in my work, I was constantly training sales reps. I just like to teach. I always taught adult Sunday school at my church and led small groups. So, I’ve been teaching all my life. And I’ve had many people, family members and friends, say, ‘You know, you’d really be a great teacher.’”
Eventually, Merck moved Taylor to Castaic as a central location for managing Southern California. His children grew up and got married, and when the Taylors’ son and daughter-in-law started attending Placerita Bible Church, they soon followed suit. This was how Taylor met Todd Kostjuk, vice president of administration at TMU and fellow member at PBC. With Taylor’s eligibility for retirement with Merck fast approaching, Taylor reached out to Kostjuk.
Kostjuk remembers the conversation: “He came up to me one day and said, ‘Hey, Todd, I’m getting ready to retire. I’d love to consider teaching in the business department.’ And I said, ‘Let me introduce you to (TMU business administration chair) Dwight Ham.’”
To Kostjuk, Taylor seemed like a strong fit for TMU.
“He has decades of experience at a high level,” Kostjuk says. “And secondly, he has a love for the Lord and a strong passion to share that with students.”
In 2020, Taylor taught Consumer Behavior at TMU as an adjunct professor – and he loved it.
“It’s probably my favorite class to teach,” he says. “It’s just so interesting to study why consumers do what they do. I think everyone should take it, because you find out how easily we’re manipulated by simple things, like the temperature in a grocery store or the music playing in the background.”
After two years as an adjunct, Taylor retired from Merck in January 2022 and came on as a full-time faculty member. Now, he’s teaching “all things marketing” in the business department.
“Teaching here has been fantastic,” Taylor says. “It’s a blessing every day. What I love now about being a full-time professor is that I get to be involved in the students’ lives. That’s the best part, because I have an office here now, and people come in all the time – and not just for academic help, but to talk about other things, too. And it just means a lot to me.”
With 30 years of professional experience in marketing and sales, Taylor knows better than most how to navigate a career in marketing as a believer, and his role at TMU puts him in the perfect position to pass that knowledge on to others.
“Being able to teach how to market in a godly way is wonderful,” he says.
To learn more about TMU’s marketing emphasis, see [this page](https://www.masters.edu/programs/marketing).
The Master’s University and Seminary admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
21726 Placerita Canyon Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
1-800-568-6248
© 2024 The Master’s University Privacy Policy Copyright Info
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |