Before he was George Martin Zinkhan III, the alleged murderer, he was Martin – the smart and likable kid from the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.

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.

According to a Terry College profile of Zinkhan, “he has published more than 140 articles in the areas of advertising, promotion, knowledge development and electronic commerce.”

And his passion for marketing spread into the classroom.

“I never got a weird vibe from him,” said Kate Larson, a junior from McDonough, who spoke with him after class two days before the incident.

She said everything seemed normal with his demeanor. He helped her with marketing research and even donated to a campus organization she is a part of, she said.

“Of all the professors I have ever had, he would be the last one I’d think would do this,” Larson said.

He has two children, ages 8 and 10, with his second wife – Marie Bruce, one of the victims of the shooting. He also has two children in their 20s with his first wife, Lydia Stoiadin, who lives in Texas.

He took classes at Swarthmore College and the University of Michigan. He taught classes at the Universities of Houston, Pittsburgh, Georgia and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

He threw it all away on April 25.