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ISDS Professor Marvin Karlins’ Latest Book Translated into 15 Languages

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (September 14, 2017) -- Besides standing in front of a principles of management class in the Muma College of Business teaching the ins and outs of business and administration, Marvin Karlins likes to sit in front of a keyboard. And write. And write. And write.

It has paid off. His book, "The Like Switch," written by Karlins and former FBI Special Agent Jack Schafer, is a handbook filled with strategies on how to read people and control how others perceive you. The book, published in 2015, has now sold more than 100,000 copies and audio tapes. The total does not include foreign editions of the book, which has been translated into 15 languages.

"There are other possible future foreign additions being negotiated," said Karlins, a professor in the Muma College of Business Information Systems and Decision Sciences department.

Karlins has also collaborated with another former FBI agent, Joe Navarro, on two books: "Read 'Em and Reap," a guide on how to pick up poker "tells" at the gaming table and the No. 1 international best-selling book on non-verbal communication, entitled "What Every BODY is Saying."

That book has been published in 23 languages and was on the best seller lists for months when first published in 2008, Karlins said.

"Jack and Joe worked together many years at the FBI and, based on my success with Joe, Jack sought me out to work with him on 'The Like Switch,'" Karlins said. "Because interpersonal effectiveness is so crucial to every aspect of our lives we felt such a book was a valuable resource for personal success in all facets of life."

Karlins has also taught behavior-oriented courses in psychology and management, emphasizing personal growth and interpersonal effectiveness. He twice has been named Outstanding Teacher of the Year for the Muma College of Business and has received the University of South Florida's President's Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Some of his research interests, such as interpersonal effectiveness and the psychology of gambling, are reflected in his writing. He is the author of 30 books and has had more than 150 articles published in a wide range of professional, academic and popular journals. He also has been sought out by the media as an expert in such matters.

He's not likely to shut down his keyboard anytime soon.

"I am currently working on my next book, a biography of Tony March, who was featured in a Tampa Bay Times story and was the subject of an editorial in the same newspaper this past April," Karlins said. "This man is the personification of what makes America great: a man who was born and raised in poverty, worked his way to the top of the business world and then dedicated the rest of his adult life to 'paying it backwards,' helping those less fortunate achieve better lives."

March, an entrepreneur in Tampa who is co-founder of March Hodge Master Management Company, also puts in about 20 hours a week at Metropolitan Ministries, a charity that supports efforts to reduce and eliminate homelessness.

Karlins received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from Princeton University. He was an instructor at Princeton University and taught at the University of Pittsburgh, City College of the City University of New York and Southern Illinois University.