She is the David S. Van Pelt Family Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[2] In the 1980s, Zeithaml and her co-authors developed SERVQUAL, a multidimensional scale of perceived service quality.

She was named a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in the report on “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.”[3] Zeithaml held positions at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, including Associate Dean of the MBA Program, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Chair of the Marketing Area.

Additionally, from 2001 to 2007, Zeithaml served as an Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, one of only 12 worldwide.

[1][2][5] Zeithaml's development of the SERVQUAL model, is a widely adopted measurement instrument across various industries and countries.