News

After several years of service to West Virginia University and the College of Business and Economics, Professors Linda Sypolt and Tim Heames will hang up their teaching caps and retire at the end of summer. 

The communications team at West Virginia University’s business school was honored with three awards at the Public Relations Society of America-West Virginia Crystal Awards Gala in Charleston on June 15.

The Office of Communications & Marketing at the WVU College of Business and Economics was presented a Crystal Award and two honorable mention awards at the annual event, held this year at the Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex.

The Professional Sales Institute at West Virginia University has been named to the 2016 “Top Universities for Professional Sales Education” listing for the fifth consecutive year by the Sales Education Foundation. WVU appeared on the yearly list published in the SEF annual magazine recognizing top sales schools in North America and internationally.

In its recognition as a top sales school, the SEF ranking shows that WVU has a specialty area in professional sales at B&E, is a sales competition participant and provides a sales internship program. WVU’s Professional Sales Institute operates in the College of Business and Economics.

Two  West Virginia University alumni from the College of Business and Economics were recognized by the United States Small Business Administration, West Virginia District Office, for their small business work within the state.  

Arria Hines and Nesha Sanghavi were honored at a luncheon on May 4 at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center in Fairmont, West Virginia.

Naomi Boyd, chair of the finance department and associate professor, has been with the College of Business and Economics for eight years. Below is a Q&A about her life story: how she came into her career, what she loves about teaching and the future plans she has in store for B&E and its students.

What did you do before coming to B&E?
As a young adult, I had trained for a career in ballet and majored in dance at the University of Texas at Austin, before my career took a different turn. When graduate school for my husband took us away from Austin, I got a job working for the Economic Development Company for the City of Lubbock, Market Lubbock, where I worked in business attraction and recruitment.  One of the companies we brought to Lubbock, an Australian-based firm called SupaChill, hired me to develop a partnership with Texas Tech University. I started back part-time getting my MBA, and ended up, after a semester, deciding to pursue my graduate studies full-time. When my husband and I moved to Washington D.C., I taught at George Washington University during my doctoral program, while working as a student scholar for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Here at  West Virginia University, we mold our students to be successful in the workforce, and love to see their careers skyrocket. Something we love even more is when we can bring these successful alumni back to campus, providing a milestone for them in their already-successful careers. A great example of that cycle is found in   human resource management expert Cris DeBord, WVU’s newest vice president of talent and culture.

While no two groups of students we say goodbye to each May are ever the same, one thing remains each year around commencement time: the feeling of hope, inspiration and pride that is felt by everyone involved, including our graduates, their parents and friends, and our faculty and staff here at the College of Business and Economics.

B&E’s commencement ceremony was held on May 14 at the  West Virginia University Coliseum, where an estimated 500 students walked the stage to be handed their diplomas.

When it comes to the academic success of student-athletes, there are no brighter beacons on West Virginia Univerisity’s campus than those at the College of Business and Economics.

The 2016 West Virginia University Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching was presented to six inspiration WVU faculty members, including Joshua Hall, associate professor of economics at the College of Business of Economics. 

Hall and five other honorees received a $5,000 honorarium from the WVU Foundation, and were recognized by WVU President Gordon Gee, Provost Joyce McConnell and Cindi Roth at the faculty and staff awards dinner on April 6 at Blaney House.