Turner Business

TSYS School cybersecurity nexus students received a real treat with a recent visit from Stacy Hughes, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer with Voya Financial in Atlanta.  Hughes, a senior leader in IT security, risk and compliance, with over 20 years of experience managing complex initiatives within Fortune 500 financial technology organizations, met every student, had small group discussions, dropped in on classes in progress to share her insights, and even had some one-on-one consultations with students.  “There’s no appropriate way to thank an executive who spends her day off driving 100+ miles to visit a bunch of students, even though those students think she is a rock star, which she is,” said Patrick Aiken , Director of the TSYS School’s Center for Cybersecurity.  “We are so grateful to have Stacy as a guardian angel who pours so much time and care into our students in the Cybersecurity Nexus program at Columbus State University.”  Named by PaymentsSourc

Marvin Wayne Starks Scholarship Endowment Local businessman Wayne Starks is not a graduate of Columbus State University, but he may know better than most about what CSU and its students can do.  “Coming from the private sector and in human resources, I’ve had the pleasure of hiring a lot of CSU graduates,” said Starks, a business owner, angel investor and entrepreneur.  “Firsthand, I’ve seen the caliber of talent that comes out of CSU.  It’s impressive.”  Starks’ admiration for CSU cultivating a workforce of impactful business professions inspired him to give $250,000 to establish the Wayne and Stella Starks Scholarship Endowment within the university’s D. Abbott Turner College of Business.  “The college did an awful lot for my wife and me, and this was a good way to give back,” he said.  “There’s no comparison to what the college was back then to the university that’s there today.  The quality of the education there – you cannot beat it.  We thought it would be fair to give back and m

A new study by Turner College economics professor Frank Mixon and his colleague Benno Torgler of Queensland University of Technology (Australia) examines the use of proxy voting in the U.S. House of Representatives during 2021.  As the authors explain, on May 15, 2020, House Resolution 965 , which authorized “remote voting by proxy in the U.S. House of Representatives and providing for remote committee proceedings during a public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus, and for other purposes,” passed a full vote in the U.S. House, 207 to 199.  In addition to proxy voting, HR 965 also authorized remote proceedings in committees, for Representatives to participate remotely during such proceedings and to be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.   Mixon and Torgler point out that proxy voting has been heavily criticized by some media outlets and others as an excuse for engaging in non-legislative activities, or for reasons far beyond its intent, such as campaigning for re-e

In their article appearing in a recent issue of the International Journal of Servant-Leadership , the Turner College’s Kasey Morris and Kevin Hurt provide a conceptual model depicting how servant leadership can lead to community-building in an organization through various interceding mechanisms at an individual, organizational, and societal level.  Morris and Hurt point out that the individual level of an organization, the stakeholders that servant leaders focus on are individual employees.  Each employee is valued as being capable of growth and development to varying extents.  The servant-leader has a genuine desire to serve followers at an individual level and in doing so, servant leaders can cultivate the best in their followers through one-on-one communication to understand their abilities, needs, desires, goals, and potential.  Morris and Hurt contend that this personalized communication between servant leaders and their followers at the individual level of an organization can b

A recent entry to Turner Business reported that Turner College alum  Rachael Lambert , who earned an MBA from CSU, was selected to the 2023 GeorgiaForward Young GameChangers Cohort.  As reported earlier, Young Gamechangers is a unique leadership action program hosted by GeorgiaForward, a non-profit organization administered by the Georgia Municipal Association, that brings professionals from across the state to work on the persistent challenges of one Georgia community.  Since that entry, Turner Business has learned that three additional Turner College graduates are joining Lambert on the 2023 GeorgiaForward Young GameChangers Cohort.  They are Samantha Miller Gurski ,  Hayley Lyman  and  Cortney Wilson .    On its website, GeorgiaForward notes that i n her current role as Director of CSU’s Department of Continuing & Professional Education (CPE), Miller Gurski and a talented team actively serve the university and the Chattahoochee Valley community by offering richly varied progr

Columbus State University recently received confirmation that it has been re-designated by the National Security Agency (NSA) as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD).     As Patrick Aiken , Director of the Turner College’s TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, explained to Turner Business , “So much vision and tireless effort goes into this type of prestigious award.   There is no way to recognize everyone who played roles in this designation, but special recognition has to go to . . . [TSYS School] . . . .  Shamim Khan , and . . . Graduate Programs Coordinator, Yesem Kurt Peker  for managing the application process that allowed us to earn this designation.   Atlanta Braves Senior Coordinator for Event Services, Jamiya Brinson, will be visiting the Turner College on Thursday, February 23, at 12:30 pm.   Brinson will be speaking in the Synovus Center Theater on professional research, customer service and event management, all topics relevant to courses taught by Becca Jone

New research by TSYS School computer scientist Rania Hodhod and her colleagues from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Ain Shams University, Cairo University and King Abdulaziz University extends prior work investigating effective ways to interact with socially intelligent agents in unpredictable environments.  Hodhod and her co-authors point out that behavior trees allow for knowledge to be represented in graphical formats that provide a way for socially intelligent agents, which are agent systems that are able to connect and interface to humans (e.g., robotic systems, computational systems), to effectively interact with received information.  The studies explains that behavior trees are capable of storing prior social experiences that can be used by socially intelligent agents to provide adequate human-like interactions when facing new social situations.  According to Hodhod, “one challenge appears when a social agent with vast past experiences – represented as a forest o

The Edwin and Florette Rothschild Endowment A number of stories at Turner Business have mentioned the Turner College’s Edwin and Florette Rothschild Endowed Chair of Business Administration and Leadership.  The current holder of the Rothschild Chair is TSYS School computer science professor Rania Hodhod , as a prior entry to Turner Business noted.  None of these stories provides details about the origin of this particular endowment.  Established by Florette Rothschild in December of 1998, the Rothschild Endowed Chair is named for Florette and her husband Edwin, both loyal friends and benefactors of education who made significant contributions to the Turner College and to Columbus State University.  Edwin, who owned and operated a furniture store on Columbus while also serving on the Synovus Board of Directors, what a staunch proponent of business ethics.  Through its endowment, which currently stands at about $660,000, the Rothschild Chair substantially enhances the quality of educa

The spring semester 2023 Turner College Career Fair is set for Tuesday, February 28, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the main lobby of the Synovus Center on CSU’s main campus.   Sponsored by the Turner College, AKA, Beta Gamma Sigma, Collegiate 100 and other organizations, the event promises to be fruitful for business majors, many of whom have recently polished their resumes and Linkedin pages, and have had professional headshots made in the Turner College’s Student Services Center.   It should be an exciting event.   We hope to see you there. 

Lipham Lecture Hall The Lipham Lecture Hall is the second classroom that students encounter upon entering the front door of the Synovus Center of Commerce and Technology, home to the Turner College of Business.  Named in recognition of a generous gift from Turner College supporters  James B. and Florence C. Lipham , the Lipham Lecture Hall is a medium-sized, tiered classroom space that accommodates about 80 students and houses two large screens and various multi-media options for teaching and learning.   After his move to Columbus in 1972, the now late James Lipham connected with Columbus College, working closely with several of its accounting graduates.   Throughout his public accounting career and during his years with Synovus and TSYS, his relationship with Columbus State University flourished.   Over the course of his 26-year tenure as CFO of TSYS, he relied heavily on Turner College business and computer science graduates to help build the workforce that propelled TSYS the company

Spring semester activities in the Turner College are gearing up.  The Turner College Accounting Club recently met, and members and guests were treated to a fun game of Accounting Jeopardy.  On February 9th, the Turner College Financial Management Association hosted a panel of recent graduates featuring Autumn Wilson ,  Jayson Leatherland ,  Emily Batchelor  and Antonia Bearden .  Leatherland and Batchelor represented Aflac, while Wilson and Bearden represented Synovus and Charles Schwab, respectively.  This was an excellent networking opportunity for finance majors and other business students. Congratulations are due to the Turner College Marketing Club for selling 92 boxes of donuts in its efforts to raise money for a scholarship to that member who shows exemplary service and contributes to bettering the marketing organization.  The staff at Turner Business sends a special thanks to Taylor Parker , Yulia Nurmukhametova  and Handglin Dawkins , the presidents of these business student

Turner College economics professor Frank Mixon currently ranks among the top 10% of economics researchers in Georgia.   Mixon currently ranks 26 th in Georgia according to a weighted average of research productivity metrics compiled by RePEc Ideas, which is an Internet-based service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.   Among the top 75 economists in Georgia, 23 are affiliated with Georgia State University, 13 come from each of three institutions – the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Georgia – and 11 are affiliated with Emory University.   That is, 73 of the top 75 economists in Georgia are affiliated with either three of the four “Research Universities” in the USG, Emory University or the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.   Among the remaining two (including Mixon) are affiliates of Kennesaw State University, one of the four “Comprehensive Universities” in the USG, and Columbus State Univers

With the Turner College’s spring 2023 Career Fair on the horizon, Career Fair Prep Week begins on Monday in the Synovus Center on CSU’s main campus.  On Monday, February 13, the Turner College is offering a resume workshop at 3:00 pm in the Synovus Center auditorium.  For distance learners, a virtual resume workshop will be held at 3:00 pm on Monday, February 20.  On Tuesday, February 14, business majors will have the opportunity to find out how to better market themselves on social media, particularly Linkedin.  This session will occur on Tuesday, February 14, in the Synovus Center auditorium at 3:00 pm.  A virtual offering will occur on Tuesday, February 21 at 3:00 pm.  On Wednesday, February 15, Turner College business and computer science students may stop by the Student Services office in Synovus 224 at 1:00 pm for a professional headshot session.  Finally, a general preparation session will be offered on Thursday, February 16, at 3:00 pm in the Synovus Center auditorium.  As with

While the introduction YouTube video for CSU’s ‘Create You’ campaign prominently features the Synovus Center, two separate follow-up videos focus on Turner College alumni.  The most recent of these introduces viewers to Hayley Tillery , the Executive Director of the Columbus Convention and Trade Center.  As indicated in a previous entry of Turner Business , Hayley earned an M.S. in organizational leadership from the Turner College in 2015 and is currently a PhD candidate in marketing at Auburn University.  An earlier video features Miles Greathouse , co-founder of Nōnic Beer Bar & Kitchen, Maltitude and Jarfly, all staples of uptown life in Columbus.  Miles earned a BBA in general business from CSU in 2010.             

Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice CSU’s Turner College of Business is home to the editorial offices of a number of academic journals.  One of these is Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice , which is currently edited by Kevin Hurt , an associate professor of management in the Turner College.   SLTP launched in 2016, and it aims to publish scholarly research, theory, and developmental application from diverse fields of inquiry about servant leadership. The journal will consider studies of servant leaders from all walks of social life, including formal or informal servant leaders of any type of group or organization.   In addition to Hurt, the Editorial Board of SLTP includes Phil Bryant and Neal Thomson , both management faculty in the Turner College.   Among the other Editorial Board members are Steve Brown of Georgia Gwinnett College, Victor Claar of Henderson State University, and Kathleen Patterson of Regent University.   Both Bryant and Brown served as editors of SLT

Turner College alum  Rachael Lambert was recently selected for the 2023 GeorgiaForward Young GameChangers Cohort.  GeorgiaForward, a non-profit organization administrated by the Georgia Municipal Association, selected Rachael Lambert as one of the 45 promising professionals ages 25 to 40 to serve the organization’s 2023 Young Gamechangers program.  Young Gamechangers is a unique leadership action program hosted by GeorgiaForward that brings professionals from across the state to work on the persistent challenges of one Georgia community.  This year Columbus will be the host community, meaning that 15 of the Young GameChangers will hail from the Columbus area.  Rachael graduated summa cum laude from the Turner College in 2013, earning a BBA in accounting.  In 2015, she earned an MBA from the Turner College.  During her academic career at CSU Rachael was a member of the Honors College, a graduate assistant in the Turner College, and studied abroad in Ireland.  She was a member of the Na

A new pedagogical study by Turner College economist Frank Mixon and his co-author Rand Ressler of Georgia Southern University describes a straightforward classroom exercise that highlights the general tradeoff between the level of economic freedom and economic performance using the Index of Economic Freedom that is published annually by the Heritage Foundation.  Countries are categorized using the Index of Economic Freedom as being “free,” “mostly free,” “moderately free,” “mostly unfree,” and “repressed.”  The classroom exercise focuses on the relationship between economic freedom and economic performance (measures of a population’s well-being) and is amenable to either group or individual effort by way of a brief writing project or oral presentation.  The first step is to assign, or let students select, 10 countries, with at least one country in each of the five Index of Economic Freedom categories listed above.  For each selected country, students should record the Index of Econom

Research by faculty in the corps of instruction in the Turner College’s TSYS School of Computer Science is adding more than 4,500 Google Scholar citations to the College’s total count.   A recent search by Turner Business reveals that research by the 12 faculty in this department, has garnered 4,528 Google Scholar citations.   These figures produce an average of 377 Google Scholar cites per person.   Recent research by members of this department appears, or will soon appear, in IEEE Access , IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems , Tsinghua Science and Technology , IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics , Sensors and Electronics .

Journal of Financial Economic Policy CSU’s Turner College of Business is home to the editorial offices of a number of academic journals.  One of these is Journal of Financial Economic Policy , which is currently edited by Frank Mixon , a professor of economics and current holder of the Turner College’s Violet and Thomas Buck Chair.  JFEP launched in 2009, and its a reas of interest include policy related to bank performance and regulation, financial capital markets, corporate finance and governance, central bank policy, behavioral economics and finance, real estate finance and economics, and a wide variety of other related topics of interest and relevance.   It is currently published by Emerald Publishing in Bingley, England.  The 48-member Editorial Board of JFEP includes Chris Brummer of Georgetown University, Charles Calomiris of Columbia University, and Ross Levine of the University of California – Berkeley, Mark Partridge of Ohio State University, and Lawrence White of New York