Spring Break
Zinkhan: The man behind the manhunt
DANIEL BURNETT
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: News
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That smart, likable kid eventually grew into a polished professor at the University of Houston.
William Locander was on the team that hired Zinkhan as a marketing professor there. He said he remembers Zinkhan as a prolific scholar and a family man.
"He liked to get out with his kids - from his first marriage," Locander said. "He was very devoted to his children."
For Locander, memories of Zinkhan are not comprised solely of mug shots and police tape.
There are picnics, social events with families - images of a man with a genuine interest in listening to people.
"This is an absolute, total shocker," Locander said. "People [who knew him] just can't believe it was George."
Locander said Zinkhan enjoyed badminton in the backyard and had an indescribable sense of humor. He added that Zinkhan, intently focused on establishing his career in marketing research, was also student-oriented and generous with his timewhen students needed help.
"I knew George, he was a very gentle and decent human being in many ways," said Richard Tansey, a former student of Zinkhan's at the University of Houston. Tansey studied at the University of Houston for five years in the late '80s and early '90s to get his degree. During that time, he took some of Zinkhan's classes and went to him for class advice.
He said he never saw Zinkhan even lose his temper.
"George created a nurturing environment," he said. "I would have never gotten a Ph.D. in marketing without George."
Tansey said Zinkhan must have been in a desperate situation to commit the crimes he has been accused of, and they are not characteristic of the "calm and gentle soul" he remembers.
He remembers the George Zinkhan of April 24 - the night before the shootings.
He remembers a George Zinkhan who would leave his office with plans to throw softballs with fellow professors.
He remembers a George Zinkhan more like the one who attended the Boys' Latin School of Maryland.
Zinkhan was born Feb. 17, 1952, and during the nearly six decades that followed, he cultivated a knowledge for marketing into a steady career.
He began teaching at the University in 1994 and won a 2007 Journal of Advertising Best Article Award from the American Academy of Advertising. The publication discussed recognition aspects of print advertisements.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 30
just sayin
posted 5/01/09 @ 6:35 AM EST
The tone of this is a little too dramatic and romanticizing.
Good factual research but poor writing.
KC
posted 5/01/09 @ 9:55 AM EST
I gotta give the writer props for finding the sources. It's funny how whenever someone commits a crime, no matter how heinous, he's always a kind, gentle soul. (Continued…)
Blinkered Thinker
posted 5/01/09 @ 10:36 AM EST
Mr. Burnett:
Thanks for your story, which required a some legwork on your part, however, your writing skills need some attention. E.g., 15 of the 25 "paragraphs" in this short piece are but one sentence in length. (Continued…)
Alum Nye
posted 5/01/09 @ 10:38 AM EST
It could have been a better piece, but it's a good try. At least somebody's out there turning over rocks trying to get some real info instead of just speculating or regurgitating whatever the cops give them. (Continued…)
mktpro
posted 5/01/09 @ 11:08 AM EST
"He remembers the George Zinkhan of April 24 - the night before the shootings."
Someone who knew George many years ago at the Univ. of Houston would have no clue as to his recent mental state. (Continued…)
UGA Grad
posted 5/01/09 @ 12:21 PM EST
Yeah, he sounds like a stand-up kind of guy. Who wrote this article? George Zinkhan?
Snowflake
posted 5/01/09 @ 1:20 PM EST
Very different view here ...
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/04/george_zinkhans_troubled_past.php
Grad Student - UGA
posted 5/01/09 @ 1:51 PM EST
He is from a family of brilliant northern workaholics and married a genteel southern woman from Georgia. He and Marie were basically incompatible and never should have gotten married. (Continued…)
Rebecca Holman
posted 5/01/09 @ 2:13 PM EST
Finally someone has described the George I knew fairly well several years ago. Contrary to UGA Grad, my observation is that whenever someone is charged with a crime, suddenly people find him or her "strange", "distant", "creepy", or any number of sinister characterizations. (Continued…)
UGA Grad
posted 5/01/09 @ 2:48 PM EST
I find it "strange" that he killed three people and I find it "creepy" that he had his children with him when he did it. I'm sorry for you that he was your friend, but it pales in comparison to how sorry I am for his orphan children and the families of the victims. (Continued…)
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