Matthew George, a St. Louis native and senior marketing major with an emphasis in sales and sales management, was just completing the typical “introduce yourself” assignment for a Marketing Yourself class in the spring 2015 semester. But something he wrote caught marketing instructor Sherry Cook’s attention­—he had recently donated bone marrow to someone who needed it.

As the individual in charge of “marketing” the Marketing Department, Cook had her graduate assistant follow up with his story, which resulted in a blog post. The post went viral, and suddenly more than 25,000 people all over the country knew about his courageous act.

Because of this and more, the College of Business named him the 2015 Outstanding Marketing Student Exemplifying the Public Affairs Mission in May.

So what does “exemplifying the Public Affairs Mission” really mean to Matt? He says, “It’s more about living your life selflessly and always keeping others and their well-being in mind…When someone needed me, there was no choice but to step up and help.”

Matt says his greatest influences in the Marketing Department throughout his undergraduate career have been Sherry Cook and Dr. Allen Schaefer. Matt says Cook’s class helped him grow as a student, and Schaefer’s gave him “real-world exposure to companies and their selling techniques.” Matt also notes that his parents were the greatest influence in instilling a giving nature in him. “I always want to make them proud, whether it is donating bone marrow or succeeding as a young professional.”

As a marketing major and a current intern at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, how would Matt sell the Marketing Department and College of Business to incoming freshman? He says the job would be easy—the College of Business has many benefits and features. He would tell anyone interested in the Marketing Department, “I love the personal feel you get with your classmates and professors when you get to your upper-level classes.” He especially loves hearing stories about former marketing students and their successes. “It drives me in hopes that, someday, professors will be telling their students about me and my success.”

Matt doesn’t know much about the woman who received the life-saving donation, but he gets updates on how she is doing. Recently, he found out that she is back to “pre-donation activities,” which is great news! He says once the one-year mark comes around, they will be able to communicate more and possibly meet if they are both interested.