An article published in the March 17, 2008 edition of "The New Yorker" is the Common College Reading for the incoming class of first-year students at Catawba College. "The Real Work: Modern Magic and the Meaning of Life" by Adam Gopnick will be discussed by students during orientation in August and during their fall semester first-year seminar classes.

Catawba College recognized three retiring faculty members at its May 11 Commencement Exercises. Drs. James "Jim" Beard, John B. "Jack" Green and Cynthia B. Osterhus '73 were cited for their contributions to the institution at the 10 a.m. ceremony held in Keppel Auditorium.

Catawba College's End-of-the-Year Luncheon for Faculty and Staff was a time to recognize 10 individuals who are retiring from the college this year.

Catawba College alumnus Tomas Smogner '12, is one of only two students chosen to represent Ernst and Young - Sweden in the International Intern Leadership Conference this summer in Florida. Only twelve students were selected from the Nordic countries. Tomas majored in Accounting at Catawba and was a member of the Men's Basketball team. He is currently working toward a Master's degree in Accounting, Auditing, and Analysis at Stockholm University.

Entrepreneur Brandi Tysinger-Temple, founder of the Lexington, N.C. kids clothing company Lolly Wolly Doodle that conducts business on Facebook, admits she did not even have a business plan when she launched her business. But today, Facebook recognizes her business as one of its largest retailers with a page touting almost 550,000 likes and 68,500 who are talking about it.

Members of the Catawba College community gathered in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on April 23 to celebrate achievement. The occasion was the annual Awards Convocation.Scheduled the day after Earth Day, the awards distributed were eco-friendly, made of Catawba blue, 100% recycled glass. They symbolized the college's commitment to environmental responsibility and are a reminder to the recipients to promote a greener, more sustainable lifestyle.

As the 2012-2013 academic year comes to a close, Catawba College students are thinking about their futures. For some graduating in May, a next step — graduate school — is on their minds. For those with a year or so to go before they earn their undergraduate degree, thoughts are on how to enhance their future opportunities and make themselves ready for the next steps after Catawba.

Amy Hrinsin, an instructor of Accounting in Catawba College’s Ralph W. Ketner School of Business, recently completed a Teaching Effectiveness Seminar offered by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Hrinsin was evaluated on her teaching effectiveness by five faculty members with considerable experience in the classroom and she received critical constructive feedback.

Entrepreneur Brandi Tysinger-Temple has been called an internet pioneer by CBS, HLN and Businessweek. The founder of the Lexington, N.C. kids clothing company will speak at Catawba College's 10th annual CEO Lecture at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 25 in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center. Tysinger-Temple will offer remarks entitled "Fearless Entrepreneurship in a Socially-Connected World: Community Building. Always Improving."

Dr. John "Jack" Green, an associate professor of marketing in Catawba College's Ketner School of Business, chaired a session and made a presentation at an international conference held in Valencia, Spain, during the college's spring break.

The folks at Morgan Ridge Vineyards in Gold Hill wanted a website that was warm and welcoming, one that was user-friendly and easy to update. That's exactly what they got after Catawba College students enrolled in Dr. Pamela Thompson's fall semester e-commerce class finished their work. The students in Thompson's class tackled the project as a group assignment while they were learning about the latest web technologies. Their work, www.morganridgevineyards.com, launched in February to rave visito

Joseph "Joe" R. Gorman and wife Sharon of Greensboro, Ga., have established a scholarship at Catawba College and students from Georgia will be given preference for it. Joe stated, "Sharon and I love Catawba College because it played such a pivotal role in our lives. Catawba is where we met and fell in love. I met Sharon at the freshman orientation dance on her first night at Catawba. Rick Toms, a fellow football teammate and great friend, and I decided to check out the girls...

Catawba College Alumnus and Trustee Gregory M. Alcorn '79 of Salisbury is one of three new members appointed by N.C. Governor Pat McCrory '78 to the State Board of Education. That announcement was made Wednesday, Jan. 30. McCrory told N.C. legislative leaders that he had chosen Bill Cobey of Durham, Greg Alcorn of Salisbury and Becky Taylor of Greenville to the state's policy-making board for the public schools. The General Assembly must vote to confirm the new governor's choices.

Dr. Eric R. Hake, Associate Professor of Economics and Department Chair of Business & Economics at Catawba College, recently attended the annual conference of the Association for Evolutionary Economics in San Diego, Calif., a conference he helped organize as the secretary of the Association.

Catawba alumnus Paul Ken Clifton has been selected as one of five finalists among the 58 North Carolina community colleges for the 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award. Clifton received the Outstanding Excellence in Teaching Award at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, where he is an instructor for Computer Information Technology. By receiving this honor, Clifton was designated the college's nominee for the 2012 North Carolina Community College System's R.J. Reynolds Excellence in Teaching Award.

Catawba students were treated to a formal dinner Wednesday, complete with fine china, fancy dishes and all the facts they need to know about proper manners for such an occasion. The Career Services Office, along with the Ketner School of Business, hosted the Manners Matter Dinner. Catawba faculty served as the wait staff. Oliver Scott, Assistant to the President for Special Events, shared tips on the proper way to dine, including which fork to use when (work from the outside in), how to pass the

Two open houses for Catawba's Evening Program are scheduled in December. Prospective students will have the opportunity to learn more about the evening degrees offered by the School of Evening & Graduate Studies. View details on the open houses and programs...

Catawba College Professor Richard Browne recently shared insights in his presentation "Strategy vs. Execution – which matters more in achieving global business success?" while lecturing to the Master's of Business class at the Universidad Americana, Managua, Nicaragua. Browne, who lectures in International Business at Catawba's Ketner School of Business, utilized case studies from several Fortune 500 companies to highlight the factors for winning at business in the global arena.

One of the individuals inducted into Catawba College's Ketner School of Business Hall of Fame on November 13 was the man who started it in 2007. Philip J. Kirk ’67 of Raleigh, a member of the Business Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012, was credited with establishing the Hall of Fame when he was employed at Catawba as the Vice President of External Relations.

by Melanie Goergmaier '05 (Business Administration Alumnus) - Goergmaier recounts why she came to Catawba College and what has resulted from her experiences there. Watch this Catawba Story...

Catawba College's Ketner School of Business will induct six individuals into its 2012 Business Hall of Fame on Tuesday, November 13. The 11 a.m. ceremony, free and open to the public, will be held in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

Fourteen Catawba College students employed their unique gifts and talents in service to others as interns with tax-exempt nonprofit organizations during the summer of 2012. Funding and coordination for the program were provided through the college's Lilly Center for Vocation and Values. While these students clearly benefitted from the experiential learning opportunities offered through such internships, they also filled vital roles within the programs they served.

Four individuals will be honored as recipients of Catawba College's Distinguished Alumnus Award on Saturday, Oct. 27 during a barbecue luncheon scheduled in Goodman Gymnasium as part of the college's Homecoming Weekend activities. The honorees include 1979 alumnus Michael S. Bauk of Salisbury; 1955 alumnus the Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Hamilton of Newton; 1971 alumnus Dr. Dolan Hubbard of Timonium, Md.; and 1951 alumnus Jack Ward of Mocksville.

Catawba College students are now registering for "J Term" courses that will allow them to take a one to three-hour online class or travel abroad during Catawba's winter term, the December-January time that coincides with Christmas break. Courses offered and enrollment in the "J term" has doubled since it was initially offered in the 2009-2010 academic year. Courses offered during Catawba's J term are only available to Catawba College students...

With the arrival of iPhone 5 and its record-breaking sales, experts are saying it could be a sign of recovery for the economy. Before lines to purchase the phone had even formed, pre-orders topped two million within the first 24 hours, according to Apple. It was projected that 10 million phones could be sold by Monday, September 24.

Dr. Pam Thompson, a Catawba College associate professor in the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business, has had a paper accepted for an upcoming conference. Her paper "From Music to Emotions and Tinnitus Treatment, Initial Study" (with Deepali Kohli, Zbigniew Ras, Pawel Jastreboff, and Alicja Wieczorkowska) has been accepted as a regular paper with oral presentation to a top level conference in the field of Information Systems and Artificial Intelligence...

The Ralph W. Ketner School of Business hosted the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce event, "Business After Hours" on Monday, July 9th from 5:00pm–7:00pm on the Catawba College campus. View photos from the event...

Darin S. Spencer, an assistant professor of accounting in Catawba College's Ketner School of Business, has been asked to serve on the Accounting Advisory Board at Rowan Cabarrus Community College. Spencer holds his bachelor's degree and master of accountancy degree from UNC Charlotte and his M.B.A. from Pfeiffer University.

"The Checklist Manifesto," by Atul Gawande is the common summer reading for the incoming class of first-year students at Catawba College. These students will be discussing this text during orientation in August and during their fall semester first-year seminar classes.

Several open houses for Catawba's Evening Program are scheduled during the month of June. Prospective students will have the opportunity to learn more about the evening degrees offered by the School of Evening & Graduate Studies. View details on the open houses and programs below...

A current and a retired Catawba College employee have been honored with new scholarships established in their honor. Joanna Jasper, Catawba's chief information officer, and David E. Setzer, who retired in 1997 as special assistant to the president after 36 years of service, were honored with the scholarships created by gifts from an anonymous donor.

Fourteen students in Catawba College's School of Evening and Graduate Studies (SEGS) program were inducted into the College's chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society during a ceremony held April 18 in Tom Smith Auditorium on campus.

Dr. Stephen Hiatt, a Catawba College professor of management in the Ketner School of Business, has been invited to join other top management educators at Cengage Learning Headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, in early June as a member of an exclusive advisory board on digital learning. The advisory board, which includes other faculty from across the country, will discuss technology and teaching strategies in management.

Thirty-four Catawba College juniors and seniors, all pursuing academic majors in the Ketner School of Business, were inducted into the Business Honor Society during an April 12, 2012 ceremony held in the Hurley Room on campus.

Three Catawba College students and one faculty sponsor represented the North Carolina Omicron chapter at the super-regional convention of Alpha Chi, the national college honor society, March 22-24 in Baltimore, Md.

Ralph W. Ketner was honored with the Wilson L. Smith Philanthropic Award during Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation's Annual Donor Appreciation and Recognition Dinner held on March 15, 2012. Mr. Ketner was presented with this prestigious award by Dr. Thomas K. Carlton, Jr., Board Chairman of Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation. Among the special family and friends witnessing the presentation were son Robert Ketner and fiancée Leslie Sadler and his sister Dot Swing.

Food Lion Co-Founder Ralph Ketner, the keynote speaker at Catawba's ninth Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on March 1, likened himself to the turtle atop a fence post. "That turtle knows he didn't get there by himself – he had help. I'm only standing here today because of the help I have from the original investors in Food Town," the 91-year-old Ketner quipped.

Food Lion co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Ralph Ketner is trying to re-create history. He'd love to have in his hands a list of the 125 original investors in Food Town, which became today's Salisbury-based Food Lion grocery chain.

He has been called a visionary for transforming food retailing and has been named among "Tar Heels Who Made a Difference" in the 20th century. Ralph W. Ketner, one of the co-founders of Food Lion and chairman emeritus of the board of Food Lion, Inc. , will deliver the keynote address at Catawba College's ninth annual CEO Lecture on Thursday, March 1. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Eric R. Hake, associate professor of economics at Catawba College, presented a paper at the Allied Social Science Association (ASSA)/American Economics Association Conference in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 6, 2012. Seven students, accompanied by two Catawba College faculty, will present four pieces of research at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association.

Dr. Sanford Silverburg, professor emeritus of political science at Catawba College, authored a chapter included in a 2011 book published by Cameron May of London. Dr. James Slate, associate professor of economics at Catawba College, will attend the annual meeting of the Academy of Economics and Finance to be held in Charleston, S.C., Feb. 9-11.

Members of Catawba College’s Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), a national business fraternity, toured the "financial district" in Uptown Charlotte led by local media personality and 1977 Catawba alumnus Joey Popp on October 19.

by Travis Allen '06 (Business Administration Alumnus) - Allen attributes his turning point at Catawba to former faculty member Dr. Andrew Morris of the Ketner School of Business.

Krispy Kreme Chairman, President and CEO James Morgan visited the Catawba College campus on Oct. 13 to share key thoughts and encouraging words with the students gathered in Keppel Auditorium. Morgan was the speaker at Catawba's Ketner School of Business Eighth Distinguished CEO Lecture Series.

The Ralph W. Ketner School of Business hosted its Inaugural Chili Cook Off on October 1, 2011 from 3:00 to 7:00pm. The event took place in Ketner Hall on campus. The following winners were announced...

The Catawba College Math Club and KME Chapter sponsored a visit by alumnus Daniel D. Dubree, assistant director of the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) for the FBI's Information and Technology Branch, on September 22 in Ketner Hall. Dubree spoke to members of the college community about the mathematics and computer science involved in his career at the FBI.

Ralph W. Ketner, founder and chairman emeritus of Food Lion, Inc., celebrated his 91st birthday Tuesday, Sept. 20 with some help from his colleagues at Catawba College. Ketner was surprised with flowers and an array of refreshments in the conference room of Ketner Hall on campus.

Catawba College will welcome James H. Morgan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., as the keynote speaker at the eighth annual CEO Lecture Series on Thursday, October 13. Sponsored by the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business and much anticipated by the local business community, this event will be held at 11 a.m. in Keppel Auditorium with a reception sponsored by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to immediately follow in Peeler Crystal Lounge.

Two new academic majors will be offered to Catawba College students beginning this fall. The Ketner School of Business adds a new Economics and Finance major, while the Goodman School of Education adds a new Special Education major with a variety of concentrations. According to College Provost, Dr. Richard W. Stephens, Jr., the new majors are in response to the projected needs in the marketplace.

by Sarah Campbell, SalisburyPost.com - Bryson Nesbitt graduated from Catawba College in December 2010 with a degree in Business Administration. Nesbitt, needing a job while finishing up college, became a school bus driver and plans to drive full-time until he finds a job in his field. His driving skills landed him second place in the local school bus roadeo before securing a fourth place win in the district competition. He now has hopes of a possible win at the international level.

Catawba College Professors, Pam Thompson (ABD) and Darin Spencer, CPA, M.Acc., MBA, attended the annual meeting of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) in Indianapolis, Indiana June 24 - June 27 with the generous support of Mr. Ralph Ketner, a trustee of the college. While there, the two attended workshops and seminars in preparation for continuing accreditation activities. They also met with regional and national leaders of ACBSP.

by Sarah Campbell, SalisburyPost.com - Barry Hawkins, Program Director for Students in Training (SIT), earned degrees from Catawba College in business and information systems. The nonprofit organization, run primarly through grants from the Woodson Foundation, provides technology training...

C.A. "Junie" Michael, III, a 1970 Catawba College alumnus, was honored by the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association (NCADA ) with a Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is the highest honor that the NCADA bestows.

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house in Kannapolis on Monday, June 27, from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the ante room of the Core Lab Building in Kannapolis. Prospective students are invited to drop by at any time for an overview of the program and financial aid opportunities.

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house on Tuesday, June 21, from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the Conference Center on the main campus of Davidson County Community College. Catawba currently offers evening courses on the DCCC campus. Prospective students are invited to drop by at any time for an overview of the program and financial aid opportunities.

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house on the Catawba campus on Monday, June 20, from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in Ketner Hall, Room 108. Prospective students are invited to drop by at any time for an overview of the program and financial aid opportunities.

By Joanie Morris, for the Salisbury Post - Robert Van Geons '97 has a secret. The economic development director has been harboring this secret for years. He sings. He sings loud and he sings proud.

Lisa Reid of Greensboro took Professor Al Carter and Mr. Ralph Ketner's 50-question finance exam and won a meal on the two with her 48 correct answers. Reid was one of 40 individuals, including her husband and even one test-taker from Florida, who tested their personal finance knowledge by taking the exam.

Salisbury resident Eric Slipp has made a gift to establish a new scholarship at Catawba College. Preference for the Eric P. Slipp Endowed Scholarship will be given to a member of the Catawba baseball team who is majoring in business, environmental science or physical education.

Test your personal finance knowledge by taking this 50-question finance exam! Even if you weren't able to take the class, you can take the final exam for a chance to have a meal on Mr. Ralph Ketner and Professor Al Carter! During spring semester at Catawba College, Mr. Ralph Ketner and Professor Al Carter have been teaching a one-hour Personal Finance course, trying to develop some basic financial understanding among Catawba students.

Catawba College alumnus Grant Gibson '10 has been admitted to McMaster University's graduate program in Economics. Gibson, who majored in Sustainable Business and Community Development and was a member of the men's swimming team, intends to earn his Ph.D. in Economics at McMaster, which is a member of the "Group of Thirteen" in Canada. The G-13 is considered "top-tier" and is very research intensive.

Bryan Jordan '84, president and chief executive officer of First Horizon National Corporation in Memphis, Tenn., said he thought a lot about the remarks he would make as the seventh keynote speaker in the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' Distinguished CEO Lecture Series at Catawba College on April 12. He toyed with idea of speaking about the economic recovery or change in the banking system, but, in the end, he said those topics "felt worn out to me."

Catawba College's new Chi Omega chapter of the Lambda Pi Eta communication honor society held its first induction on campus on April 7. Those on hand for the induction of nine charter members included the new chapter advisor, Cyndi Wittum; chair of Communication Arts, Dr. Tim Moreland; and dean of the Ketner School of Business, Dr. Jamie Slate.

By Daniel Bross, Senior Director Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft for BCCCC.net - As Steve Ballmer wrote in his introduction to our FY10 Corporate Citizenship Report, "Microsoft has a long tradition of taking on tough challenges on a global scale ... it started with our original vision of a computer on every desk and in every home." The world has changed since Bill Gates articulated that vision over 30 years ago and events over the past three months bring into clear focus the growing role techno

Thanks to Dr. Eric Hake, associate professor of economics, a leading academic journal, "The Journal of Economic Issues" (JEI), is now being hosted by the Association For Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) with a professional address of Catawba College. Hake serves as secretary of AFEE.

A 1944 Catawba College alumna, Edith Smith Kenerly Holshouser, has created a new scholarship fund at her alma mater that will benefit students from her native Rowan County. The Kenerly Smith Family Scholarship is a way for Mrs. Holshouser to pay tribute to the fact that she, her late first husband, Harold Kenerly '47, and four of her late siblings, William Lamont Smith '33, Maxine Smith Carlton '37, Quay Thurston Smith '41 and Martha Viola Smith Adams '41, all graduated from Catawba.

Pam Thompson, an associate professor of information systems in Catawba College's Ralph Ketner School of Business, has had a paper accepted for publication. Thompson co-authored the paper with three other professors, two at UNC Charlotte and one at Emory University. The paper will be included as a chapter in the book, "Learning Structure and Schemas from Documents," which is soon to be published by Springer in its "Studies in Computational Intelligence" series.

Bryan Jordan, president and chief executive officer of First Horizon National Corporation in Memphis, Tenn., will be the seventh keynote speaker to participate in the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' Distinguished CEO Lecture Series at Catawba College on Tuesday, April 12. Jordan, a 1984 Catawba College alumnus and Salisbury native, will offer remarks beginning at 11 a.m. on April 12 in Hedrick Little Theatre of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

Nine Catawba College students, all members of Phi Beta Lambda, the business honor society, spent March 1 visiting uptown Charlotte. Their tour guide of the Queen City's uptown was 1977 Catawba alumnus Joey Popp, a Charlotte radio and television host and a member of Catawba's Ketner School of Business Advisory Board. Popp took the group on a two-hour walking tour and wrapped up the afternoon with dinner at Brixx.

Pierce Autry, a senior accounting student from Patuxent River, Md., is the fifth Catawba College accounting student to be awarded a graduate fellowship to attend North Carolina State University's Master of Accountancy (MAC) program.

Source: The-Dispatch.com - The Davidson County Board of Education approved Gregory S. Cline as the interim informational technology director for the system, replacing Sue Whitman, who retires March 1.

Have you made a New Year's resolution? Have you already broken one? Catawba College Business Professor Pam Thompson is betting you can make a promise, not a resolution, and stick to it while "making the world a better place one promise at a time." Thompson is launching a business venture that depends on people making a promise and going public with that promise with a bracelet and social networking. She has spent most of the last three months "learning about starting a product-based business ra

It was a letter that Ralph W. Ketner received from a recent Catawba College graduate that made him think that young adults need lessons in personal finance. Now, the 90-year-old Food Lion founder will be co-teaching a class at Catawba during the spring semester with Professor Al Carter, a classroom veteran of 42 years, to try to share those lessons.

Mr. Ralph W. Ketner delivered a business lecture to a group on Wednesday, December 1 at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. His lecture was part of the BB&T Distinguished Leaders in Action Lecture Series.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Aubrey Overcash had a pretty good reason for attending Catawba College — 50 of them, as a matter of fact. Overcash, 23, raises miniature horses, and the college was convenient to his family's farm in Rowan County. His grandparents started raising the animals when they retired, and now Overcash is carrying on the family tradition.

Julian H. Robertson, Jr., Catawba College trustee, Salisbury native, philanthropist, and chairman and chief executive officer of Tiger Management, L.L.C., came back to his hometown on Thursday, Nov. 18. During his visit, he stopped at Catawba College to have a conversation with Catawba College and Livingstone College business students and their faculty, along with several dozen members of the Rowan-Salisbury community.

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house on Tuesday, November 9, from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Conference Center on the main campus of Davidson County Community College in Lexington. Community college graduates who are interested in completing the bachelor's degree by attending Catawba classes on the DCCC campus are encouraged to attend.

BB&T CEO Kelly King contends that leadership will help the United States recover from "the economic calamity we've been through." King spoke at the sixth installment of the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' CEO Lecture series. Aiming his remarks, titled "Our Best Days Are Ahead," at attending students, King first offered a perspective on how the nation's recent financial crisis came to be. He then shared some principles for living, principles that guide both his bank's business philosophy...

Catawba College's Ketner of Business will host the fourth annual Business Hall of Fame Saturday, November 6 in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus. Four outstanding business leaders will be inducted at the event. Inductees include Paul E. Fisher of Salisbury, Richard "Dick" J. Seiwell '67 of West Chester, Pa., Jim L. Williamson '54 of Charlotte, and the late Lotan Corriher of Landis, who attended Old Catawba College in Newton from 1891 to1892.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. This fall, the Catawba College community welcomed three new faculty members: Dr. Forrest Anderson, Dr. Eric Hake and Dr. Erin Wood.

by Vince Mizeras, John Little, and David McCoy (Class of 1965 Business Administration Alumni). Three alumni reflect on remaining friends, staying in close contact, and getting their families together almost every year despite the 45 years that have passed since their graduation.

Catawba College Assistant Professor Darin Spencer recently attended the N.C. Association of CPA's Accounting Educators Conference. That conference was held in Durham Oct. 1-2 and included forums on classroom technology, teaching international accounting standards (IFRS) and case studies on corporate governance (ethics).

Mr. Ralph Ketner, an adjunct professor of business at Catawba College and chairman emeritus of the board of Food Lion, Inc., was recently inducted into Queens University's McColl School of Business Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Ketner was a member of the first class of entrepreneurs to be so honored at a ceremony held Oct. 7 in Charlotte.

Catawba College senior Anastasia Barkova of Belarus had "the best summer of her life" last summer thanks to the generosity of some Salisbury donors. The 22-year-old was one of 400 students from across the United States who completed two-month programs in Washington, D.C., offered through Georgetown University's The Fund for American Studies (TFAS).

Kelly King, chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Corporation, will be the sixth keynote speaker to participate in the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on Thursday, Oct. 27, Catawba College announced today. King, who joined BB&T in 1972, will offer remarks titled "Our Best Days Are Ahead," beginning at 4 p.m. in Keppel Auditorium of the Robertson College-Community Center on the college campus.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Things happen for a reason, and in the case of Catawba College Alumna Kyna Foster '89, that could not have been truer; when she found out that her position at Food Lion had been eliminated, a new door opened.

Ralph W. Ketner, founder and chairman emeritus of Food Lion, Inc., marks his 90th birthday on Sept. 20 and the faculty, staff and students of Catawba College plan to help him celebrate. Mr. Ketner, who keeps daily office hours in the building on Catawba's campus named for him and built through his generosity, has a tradition of bringing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts into the office each Monday. On his special day, Catawba will supply both the doughnuts and a show of affection and support for this entre

Many Salisbury businesses will extend hours and add staff this weekend in anticipation of North Carolina's sales tax holiday. Back-to-school items like classroom supplies, clothes, sports equipment and computers will ring up without state and local sales taxes beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday and ending at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

by Stephanie Cook '12. Bonjour from France! Our group has moved from Madrid to Paris and we are enjoying our time in this magnificent city! But, before we came to Paris, my friends and I had an action-packed weekend exploring Segovia, El Escritorial, and more parts of Madrid. I have a lot of cool information to share! Friday was the last day of classes. Luckily, my class had finished up the day before as well as Dr. Wilson's class so we were able to do whatever we wanted that day!

by Stephanie Cook '12. Hey everyone! Sorry it has been several days since I have written! Unfortunately I caught a bug that has been passed around the college and has kept me feeling horrible over the past few days. I am feeling a bit better and now have some energy to write.

by Stephanie Cook '12. Hello everyone! Just got back from Barcelona a few hours ago. I thought Madrid was a really cool place, but after my excursion to the coast, I learned Barcelona is an even more fun and exciting place to visit! The city is absolutely gorgeous and filled with lots of history and BEAUTIFUL architecture. As we arrived in the city, it was obvious to see that there were Catalonian flags hanging from porches and windows...

by Stephanie Cook '12. So the main reason I am here in Madrid is to take classes to help earn my Spanish minor. Each class is very lengthy; they are three hours long and they meet every day throughout the week. We only have weekends off and we even have to meet on one Saturday! It all works out though because the classes are only 3 and a half weeks long, which is a good deal!

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house on Thursday, July 22, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the old Cabarrus Bank Building at 201 West Avenue in Kannapolis. Prospective students will be given an overview of the program and financial aid opportunities.

by Stephanie Cook '12. After a long 36 hours of traveling, we made it to our final destination! The jet lag was tough on my body, but I was too excited to focus on my exhaustion. Stepping out of the airport and breathing the cool European air was refreshing. Especially since we had a bit of a stagnant period at the airport after we landed and left the plane. One of the guys from Catawba could not find his luggage at the baggage claim!

by Stephanie Cook '12. Greetings from the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City! I am sitting in the gate with my fellow Catawba classmates waiting to board our plane at 11:20 PM. It is only 8:30 PM right now so we have a few hours to kill. Even though we have had to wait for a while, we were fortunate to have seen Beyonce and Jay-Z walk by us! Read more...

All Catawba College students enrolled in upper level Business and Communication courses will be required to read an inaugural common reading, "1,000 Dollars & An Idea" by Sam Wyly, in preparation for their Fall 2010 courses.

Catawba's School of Evening and Graduate Studies will sponsor an open house on Thursday, June 24, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on campus in Ketner Hall, Room 108. Prospective students will be given an overview of the evening program and financial aid opportunities. Two bachelor's degree programs are offered in the evening: Business Administration with concentrations in Management and Information Systems, and Birth-Kindergarten Education for community college graduates who have completed...

Catawba College's School of Evening and Graduate Studies will hold a drop-in interest meeting regarding Catawba's Bachelor's Degree Completion Program on the main campus of Davidson County Community College from 6:00-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 17. The meeting will be held in the Conference Center Building at DCCC, Room 202.

Catawba College's Business Advisory Board for the Ketner School of Business has a new chair. Robert M. Van Geons, CEcD., executive director of the Salisbury–Rowan Economic Development Commission since January of 2008, succeeds Joey Popp as chair of the 30-member board.

Two students active in the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business Experiential Learning/Internship Program will be sharing their internship experiences through blogs. Senior and business administration majors Eric Schmehl and Timmy Readling are interning with ING Financial and Centry 21, respectively and are blogging about their experiences.

"It's not about working for the title or working for the money, it's about doing something that you want to do. Find passion in what you do," Lowe's senior vice president of specialty sales and store operations support, Robert Wagner, told those gathered at Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' 5th Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on April 8.

Robert F. Wagner, Lowe's senior vice president of specialty sales and store operations support, will be the keynote speaker during Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business' 5th Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on Thursday, April 8. Wagner, a 1976 Catawba alumnus and a member of the College Board of Trustees since 2007, will offer remarks, entitled "Small College Values in a Big Business World," beginning at 11 a.m. on April 8...

Seventeen Catawba College seniors, all pursuing academic majors in the Ketner School of Business, were inducted into the Business Honor Society during a March 4 ceremony held at the Cloninger Guest House on campus. Membership in this scholastic honor society is open to all senior majors in the fields of accounting, economics, information systems, management and marketing who have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2.

by Lisa Easter '10, Music Business Major. Here's a video of the photo shoot process for my album "Welcome to My World," which was released in June 2009. The video features the first single off of the album entitled "I'm Not." This experience was a dream come true. I enjoyed working with the photographer Adam Minton because he captured my vision of the album perfectly. My favorite thing about the whole process was seeing everything fall into place.

by Mark Wineka, SalisburyPost.com. At the front of his desk, Ralph Ketner keeps a cuss jar. Every time he utters an expletive — they are mild as swear words go — he fishes into his pants pocket for a quarter to deposit in the jar. Various folks around the Ketner School of Business at Catawba College, where Ketner has an office for as long as he likes, have laid claim to the money when the jar is full.

Students in Professor Pamela Thompson's fall Business Ethics Class completed part of their coursework by giving back to the community through volunteering their time and resources. Following is a list of students, including how they gave back...

Three outstanding business leaders were inducted into the Catawba College Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 7. The event was held in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

by Catawba Students Elvis Torbush, Laura Davis, and Christian Rogers. Professor Pamela Thompson NEEDS YOUR HELP! "I'm going behind bars for 'GOOD'. On November 19th I will be incarcerated and need to raise $3000 for Muscular Dystrophy in order to bailed out of jail. Your donation is my key to freedom! Be proud of the fact that together we're providing help and hope to kids and adults served by MDA in our community."

When the Chief Executive Officer of New Breed Logistics, Inc., Louis DeJoy, visited Catawba College’s campus October 29th, he came with encouraging words and “food for thought” for students about to enter the work force. DeJoy spoke at the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business’ Fourth Distinguished CEO Lecture Series. His remarks were entitled “Tactical Leadership in Changing Environments.”

by Preston Hinkle, a student in the Ketner School of Business. Representatives from N.C. State University's Master of Accountancy program were on campus recently to speak to Catawba's aspiring accountants about their graduate program. The presentation was held in the Tom Smith Auditorium of Ketner Hall on October 8.

Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business invites you to the 4th Distinguished CEO Lecture Series, featuring Chief Executive Officer of New Breed Logistics, Inc., Louis DeJoy. DeJoy's remarks entitled "Tactical Leadership in Changing Environments,” begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, October 29 in Peeler-Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Three outstanding business leaders will be inducted into the Catawba College Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 7. The event will be held in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus. Darlene Landis Ball of Greensboro, the late Enoch A. Goodman of Salisbury and James F. Hurley, III of Salisbury will comprise the third class of business leaders to be honored by the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business...

by Tom Crump '51, Business Alumnus. Crump relays the story of how a gift given to his college roommate recently reacquainted him with what he had not seen in years — but that had made its way to Arizona and back to Salisbury 57 years later.

Rowan County Chief Deputy Kevin Auten jokes about how long he was an undergraduate at Catawba College before earning his bachelor's degree in 2000. He'll tell you about his false starts, that college is a balance of grades, maturing and experience, and how all it takes is for you to apply yourself, but it took Kevin Auten a total of 21 years to get it exactly right for himself.

Ken Clifton, a visiting instructor of information systems in Catawba College's Ketner School of Business, has recently earned his Linux+ Certification. Clifton also attended the North Carolina Local Government Information Systems Association Conference held May 27-29 in Wilmington, N.C.

Catawba College's School of Evening Studies will sponsor an open house from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, June 29, in Ketner Hall, Room 201. Prospective students will be given an overview of the program and financial aid opportunities.

Catawba College's first two Business Scholars, Gail Murray of Brunswick County and Josh Owens of Cabarrus County, were not considering Catawba until late in their decision-making process about where they would enroll after high school graduation.

Colan '03 and Courtney Blum Potemra '06 of Raleigh both just graduated from Catawba College within the past six years, however, they have already begun to give back to their alma mater in earnest. The couple recently made a gift to create a new endowed scholarship fund at the college and is encouraging their fellow alumni to consider doing the same.

"One of the best lessons for all of us would be if we see something fail, to see if those things we are afraid of [failing] are worth being afraid of," said Jeffrey S. Kane, former senior vice president in charge of the Charlotte office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, to the audience gathered April 7th at Catawba College for the third Distinguished CEO Lecture Series.

Jeff Kane, a 31-year veteran of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will speak on "Public Policy Implications for the Economic Crisis" on Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the Hedrick Little Theatre of the Robertson College-Community Center on the Catawba College campus. A luncheon will follow. Musical entertainment by Erin Harper will begin at 10:45 a.m.

Jeffrey S. Kane, former senior vice president in charge of the Charlotte office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will be the speaker for the third Distinguished CEO Lecture Series at Catawba College on Tuesday, April 7. Sponsored by the Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business, the lecture will be held in Hedrick Little Theatre on campus. A luncheon will immediately follow the lecture in Peeler Crystal Lounge.

Thanks to assistance from a local eatery, Catawba College's Phi Beta Lambda Chapter of Future Business Leaders of America hosted a successful fundraiser, the proceeds of which will support student travel and lodging expenses at an upcoming state conference this spring.

Eight Catawba College seniors, all pursuing academic majors in the Ketner School of Business, were inducted into the Business Honor Society during a ceremony held at the Cloninger Guest House on campus. Membership in this scholastic honor society is open to all senior majors in the fields of accounting, economics, information systems, management and marketing who have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2.

Experts from the renowned Rocky Mountain Institute will speak at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College on a new energy paradigm and the growth opportunities it will offer businesses and communities. The speakers will also address how the new approach will favorably impact air quality and other climate issues.

In May of 2008, Dr. John B. Green, Jr., Associate Professor of Marketing in Catawba College's Ketner School of Business, traveled to China with a group of Catawba students and members of the local community. They visited Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and points in between, exploring the culture and business environment of this emerging Asian giant.

Catawba College alumna Sally Whitney '77 of Mooresville has made a gift to establish the Parham-Whitney Family Endowed Scholarship Fund at her alma mater. The new fund will provide scholarship assistance to deserving females majoring in business.

The shy smile on George McCleave's face spoke volumes about how the Brightmoor Nursing Home resident felt about the Christmas tree he was given by Catawba College students. The tree was a final project for the students' Operations Management class, a product that different teams had assembled using specialized tools and seven different raw materials, including coat hangers.

A new Business Mentor Program launched by Catawba College's Ketner School of Business will pair junior and senior business majors with successful business leaders who are members of the Business Advisory Board, alumni or friends of the college. The program will provide an essential link between the classroom and business reality, according to Professor Pam Thompson, chair of the Ketner School of Business.

"I'm telling you, I really go deep with Catawba," says Randy Southard of Stokesdale, a 1974 College alumnus, and as he explains, one realizes how truthful his statement is. Southard describes himself as "just a little wet behind the ears kid from Stokesdale" who ended up as a student at Catawba thanks to two people with ties to the institution, both of whom were named Ron.

Dr. James Slate, associate professor of economics at Catawba College, made a presentation entitled "Assessing the Current Economy and Financial Crisis in America" on October 22nd at First United Methodist Church in Lexington. He is slated to speak at an open lecture at Milford Hills United Methodist Church in Salisbury on November 3rd.

Four outstanding business leaders will be inducted into the Catawba College Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 8 in the Peeler Crystal Lounge in the Robertson College-Community Center.

Mr. Ralph W. Ketner, a Catawba College trustee and chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of Food Lion, Inc., recently visited the new N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis. 2008 Catawba College alumnus Ryan Dayvault, an employee at UNC Chapel Hill’s core lab at the N.C. Research Campus, took Mr. Ketner on a tour of the facility.

Ellen T. Ruff, President-Duke Energy Carolinas, says her company strives to do business in a way "that is good for people, planet and profits." While these key factors are considered when her company makes decisions affecting the region's energy future, tradeoffs and choices, she notes, are also inevitably part of the decision-making process.

Three new members were welcomed at the September 19th semi-annual meeting of the Catawba College Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business. New members included Cobey Abramowski of Rockwell Farms; Heidi Whitesell of the Community Bank of Rowan; and Susan Cloninger of Cloninger Ford Toyota. Chairman Joey Popp introduced the new members.

Ellen T. Ruff, President-Duke Energy Carolinas, will be the speaker for the second Distinguished CEO Lecture Series at Catawba College on Wednesday, October 1. Sponsored by the Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business, the lecture will be held at 4 p.m. in the Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center. Musical entertainment will begin at 3:45 p.m.

The Catawba College Ketner School of Business, will sponsor "Prepared Communities Win," at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, presented by the Salisbury - Rowan Economic Development Commission. This free program, to be held in Tom E. Smith Auditorium in Ketner Hall on the Catawba campus, begins with refreshments at 5:30 p.m. and reservations are required.

by Shahin Soltan '09. My last full week of work and stay in Belgium was not very hectic. I was left more alone to work on the continuously incoming bank statements. The only major project I worked on was to help prepare data for use in a press release about the first half of 2008. I had to create excel files with formulas which could be used in the release...

by Shahin Soltan '09. This was a very exciting week for me. I had great things going on at work and I was visiting Paris for the first time in my life. At the Delhaize Corporate offices, I continued on with the bank statements that I have handled since one of my former supervisors left the company. I was given a few other projects, including mapping new cost centers for the "bank of the group," Delcor, and once again, reconciliation of the two different accounting systems.

by Shahin Soltan '09. This week was the most challenging week for me at work. The person I was working for, Michel, had left the company and I was basically given all of his responsibilities. I had to rely on the weeks of training that he had given me and see how much I had really learned. Although there were lots of things to do, I enjoyed it because as my responsibilities grew, so did my performance level.

by Shahin Soltan '09. This week at work was a little bit different than the other weeks. I had been working on a power presentation for all the Food Lion interns in Salisbury, N.C. I was supposed to present what I've learned so far and how those results compared to what I had expected to get out of this internship. Also, I talked about how Food Lion had prepared me for coming over here and whether that was adequate preparation or not.

Source: CarolinaNewswire.com. Phil Kirk, vice president for external relations at Catawba College and longtime state education leader, has been named the sixth chair of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, a not-for-profit policy think tank that has made significant contributions to the advancement of North Carolina schools. Kirk will become the organization's volunteer leader on July 1, succeeding N.C. Sen. Katie Dorsett.

by Shahin Soltan '09. My fourth week was a bit more exciting than the previous one. Monday probably was my favorite day at work so far. We cracked a lot of jokes and laughed together at work, but we also got plenty of stuff done. I was given a task to analyze this year's budget for the different entities of the Delhaize Group. It wasn't an easy job considering the organization is large.

by Brad Ross '09. After a fun-filled night in Beijing, the following day we had to pack up our overstuffed luggage and begin the long trip back to the U.S.A. But during the 20+ hours of flying and the four connecting flights, Catawba College's China Ten had plenty of experiences to reminisce about.

by Shahin Soltan '09. This week was a fairly calm week in Brussels. My friend Arvin left on Tuesday which wasn't very much fun, but what made things better was that my mom came to see me the same day. I felt bad for my mother because she took the bus all the way from Sweden. She left Sweden on Monday and didn't get here until Tuesday. It was more than a 24-hour bus ride.

by Brad Ross '09. The city of Beijing was the last stop for Catawba College's China Ten and their tour of the country. In order to experience the numerous sights the city had to offer, we were given four whole days to get a feel for the growing metropolis.

by Shahin Soltan '09. My second week in Belgium was very interesting. On Tuesday, my friend from Sweden named Arvin came to visit. Sweden is only a two-hour flight from here so it wasn't too long of a flight for him. I was very glad that he came to visit because I don't get to see my friends from back home very much considering I am in the United States most of the time.

Food Lion, LLC is in its second year of a nationally-recognized college internship program. The program had been named a semi-finalist for the Food Marketing Institute's Maximizing People Award. This honor is given annually to a wholesaler or retailer that develops an initiative to improve employee performance or that leads to the achievement of a key business goal.

by Brad Ross '09. The China Ten woke fairly early to get a good start on a landmark day in our tour of China, visiting the terra-cotta warriors. But before we could see the emperor's clay army, Lucy [group's tour guide] had a factory tour lined up with the Kami Corporation.

Phil Kirk, Catawba College's Vice President for External Relations, has been named one of the 2008 Charlotte Impact Education Leaders in the May 2008 of Charlotte Business Leader magazine. Others on the list included include Dr. Richard Brownell, retired president of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College; Dr. Pamela Davies, president of Queens University of Charlotte; Dr. Phillip Dubois, chancellor of UNC Charlotte; and Dr. Peter Gorman, superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

by Shahin Soltan '09. After arriving a few hours late and missing our plane due to my traveling buddy's ticket issues, we got on the next available flight and arrived safely in Brussels, Belgium. Because of the fact that we were late, our driver had left us and we had to pay 40 euros (equivalent of about 65 U.S. dollars). At the time, we didn't think of how expensive a 15 minutes drive was in Belgium, all we could think about how nice it could be to have a bed to lay down on.

by Shahin Soltan '09. The first week of work for Delhaize here in Brussels turned out a lot more exciting than I thought it would be. I didn’t think the associates of Delhaize would be as compassionate and helpful duties as they were. Everybody working for Delhaize corporate is very friendly and polite. They like the fact that people from the United States come over to their country and work. Almost everybody speaks English here, which is very impressive considering most people here speak both D

by Brad Ross '09. We could not have began our trip to Xian any better then with the smooth flight from Shanghai. At the airport, we met up with our Xian tour guide Lucy who wasted no time to get us loaded on the buses and off to our first destination, the Xian history museum. On the way there, Lucy told us a little background about the oldest city in China and how Xian's main attraction, the terra-cotta warriors, have helped put her on the map.

by Brad Ross '09. After getting in so late from the nightclubs of The New World, the China Ten were disappointed when they received their 7 a.m. wake up calls. But tour guides Xian and Micco had a very eventful day planned for us, so they had to make sure we were up and on the bus in a punctual fashion.

LearningStation, a leading provider of customized, online solutions for the K-12 classroom, today announced the appointment of Phillip J. Kirk, Jr. to its board of directors. "Supporting education has been a driving factor throughout my career," said Kirk. "I am honored to serve on LearningStation's board of directors and contribute to their mission of improving student achievement in North Carolina and around the country."

by Brad Ross '09. Our 5 a,m, wake-up call came earlier then any of us wanted it to, but it was critical for us to not be late for our 7 a.m. flight to Shanghai. The Shenzhen airport was an experience everybody in our group would not mind forgetting. When we arrived at the airport, the place was flooded with Chinese locals running about trying to check bags and get to their gates...

by Brad Ross '09. After experiencing the city of Hong Kong, the China Ten bid their farewells and boarded a train to travel inland to the city of Shenzhen. Because Hong Kong and mainland China are two separate entities, we had to go through customs upon arriving at the border...

by Brad Ross '09. Our tour guide, Calvin, had a lot planned for us today so he made sure we were awake by 7:30 a.m. for our dumpling breakfast and on the buses by 9:00. First on our agenda was to visit Victoria Peak, which overlooks the entire city and provides tourists a breathtaking view...

by Brad Ross '09. With still being very much under the influence of jetlag and sleep deprivation, me and the rest of the "China Ten" made a business decision to ignore our desires for rapid eye movement and instead go exploring through the many streets of downtown Hong Kong...

Students, faculty, staff and alumni associated with Catawba College's Ketner School of Business will take a "Business in China" tour May 19-June 1. The tour, coordinated by Associate Professor of Marketing, Dr. Jack Green, is offered through EF Education Tours and includes visits to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Eight students in Catawba College's School of Evening and Graduate Studies Program were inducted into the College's chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society during a ceremony held April 16 in Tom Smith Auditorium on campus.

"Sound Solutions to Rising Health Care Costs" was the topic of Robert Ingram's speech at the inaugural Distinguished CEO Lecture Series held Tuesday, April 1 in the Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

"Sound Solutions to Rising Health Care Costs" will be the topic of Bob Ingram's speech at the inaugural Distinguished CEO Lecture Series to be offered at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1 in the Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center at Catawba College.

Catawba College's Ketner School of Business will host its Second Annual Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 8. The event which begins with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by a 6:45 p.m. dinner in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

Six new members were present at the Feb. 22nd semi-annual meeting of the Catawba College Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business.

Members of the faculty and several students of the Catawba College Psychology Department attended the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association in March. Student Kathryn Shanklin of Cypress, Texas presented her work titled "Facebook: An Addiction?" during the Undergraduate Poster Session.

The Ralph W. Ketner School of Business will hold its inaugural Distinguished CEO Lecture Series, featuring Bob Ingram, Vice President Pharmaceuticals at GlaxoSmithKline, on Tuesday, April 1 at 4 p.m. in Peeler Crystal Lounge in the Robertson College-Community Center on the Catawba College campus. Musical entertainment will begin at 3:45 and a reception will follow at 5 p.m.

Longtime employee of the college, Dorothy Earle of Salisbury, was surprised by friends and colleagues at the dedication of the Dorothy Pope Earle Conference Room on Friday, February 29th in Ketner Hall on campus. Dorothy retired in December of 2006 after more than 23 years of service to the institution.

"When I was a kid in college, I thought that going to college was a rite of passage and as I got older, I realized the sacrifices that my parents had to make to make my college education possible," explained Catawba College Board of Visitors Chairman Tony Blackwell of Salisbury. "This new scholarship I've established in my parents' honor at Catawba is my way of paying tribute to their sacrifices. This scholarship was their Christmas gift."

Robert A. Ingram, Vice Chairman Pharmaceuticals at GlaxoSmithKline, will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on Tuesday, April 1 at 4 p.m. in the Peeler Crystal Lounge, Robertson College Community Center. The series is being sponsored by the Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business.

Joey Popp, a 30-year broadcasting veteran, has been elected as the first chair of the Business Advisory Board for the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business at Catawba College. Robert Van Geons, recently named executive director of the Salisbury-Rowan Economic Development Commission, is the new vice-chair. Serving as secretary will be Cecilia Stach, administrative assistant for the math department and Ketner School of Business at Catawba.

Douglas A. Stanley of Salisbury, a 2004 alumnus of Catawba College, was recently promoted to a programmer/analyst position in Catawba's Computer Services Department. Stanley also recently earned a master's degree in information technology and management from UNC Greensboro.

By Cindy Stranad, articulon.com. SALISBURY, N.C. (November 19, 2007) — Phil Kirk, vice president of external relations for Catawba College and Chairman Emeritus of the State Board of Education, has been elected chair-elect of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. Next July, Kirk will succeed Sen. Katie Dorsett of Guilford County as the chair of the Raleigh-based organization.

Catawba College's Ketner School of Business Professor Al Carter had his Managerial Finance Class participate in Operation Christmas Child in an unusual way. One of the assignments the class has been working on throughout the semester is following the stock market as individuals and then seeing how their "trades" compared to that of their classmates.

Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business inducted seven individuals into its new Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 3, in the Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center. Nearly 200 people attended the induction of the inaugural class.

Phil Kirk, vice president for external relations at Catawba College, public speaker and consultant, was presented with a resolution from The Council of State Chambers at its semi-annual meeting at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. The resolution commends Kirk for several notable accomplishments, including his career contributions to helping restore respect to public schools, elevating the political process, and forming professional stature among business lobbyists.

by Cyndi Allison, Catawba News. Phillip Kirk's life flashed before his eyes. He didn't suffer a near-death experience. In fact, he laughed from start to finish as friends and family members gathered to share memorable moments spanning his years of service in business, education, politics and as the father of four daughters.

by Cindy Stranad, articulon.com. The National Kidney Foundation of North Carolina presents "Speak Up while Phil Kirk Takes the Hot Seat," a gentle roast of Phil Kirk, vice president of external relations for Catawba College, chairman emeritus of the State Board of Education and former state senator.

Thirty-five students, all recipients of Ralph W. Ketner Scholarships, joined donors Ralph and Anne Ketner for an October 10th luncheon at Catawba College. Mr. Ketner, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Food Lion, Inc., and his wife established the scholarships at the College to assist deserving local students with the cost of their education.

Ketner Hall and the Ketner School of Business are named in honor of Ralph W. Ketner, one of the founders and Chairman Emeritus of Food Lion, Inc. Friends and colleagues were there September 20th to help him celebrate his 87th birthday with an impromptu gathering.

Catawba College alumnus and owner of The Burdette Smith Group P.C., a CPA firm in Fairfax, Va., Thomas Burdette '73 will speak on "Quarterbacking Your Firm" Thursday, October 18 on the Catawba campus. Burdette's presentation begins at 11 a.m. in Tom Smith Auditorium of the Ralph W. Ketner Building.

Catawba College's Ketner School of Business will host its inaugural Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 3. Seven individuals will be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame at the event which begins with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by a 6:45 p.m. dinner in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

Ms. Pamela Thompson, associate professor of business administration/information systems and chair of the Ketner School of Business at Catawba College, has had a paper accepted for oral presentation and publication at the upcoming Intelligent Agent Technology Conference. This international conference, slated Nov. 2-5 in Silicon Valley, Calif., is sponsored by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).

Business internships are hard to find. Paid internships are even harder to come by. But there's something about Hayley. Hayley Bollinger, a recent Catawba College grad, made such an impression on members of Catawba’s Business Advisory Council that she landed a paid internship with the Sales and Marketing office at Trinity Oaks Retirement Community.

On Monday, June 4, Phillip "Phil" J. Kirk, Jr. was named the seventh recipient of the Jay Robinson Leadership Award given by the Public School Forum of NC. A $5,000 cash prize was given by BB&T and an anonymous donor. The award honors the extraordinary leadership and service of Dr. Jay Robinson, former school superintendent and State Board of Education Chair.

Catawba College Alumnus Mike Hutchens '70 says that he established the new scholarship at his alma mater because he "wanted to leave something with my name on it that would make a difference in the life of a student with financial need." As a student, Hutchens took out loans to help pay his way through Catawba and a scholarship such as the one he has established "would have certainly helped." He recalls that when he enrolled as a freshman in 1966, the tuition, room and board at the institution,

Catawba College will offer two new academic majors this fall, both targeting students with an interest in environmental issues. Students can opt to pursue an interdisciplinary major in Sustainable Business and Community Development or a major in Environmental Education. The faculty approved both majors this spring.

Bill Noonan has been an influential roots rock songwriter and performer since long before roots rock was cool. During the 1990s, he fronted the legendary Charlotte-based Americana group the Rank Outsiders. Noonan is now performing original songs with his own band in support of a rollicking new album, Catawba City. The CD takes a cold, hard look at the sacrifices being made in this part of North Carolina in the name of progress.

Maybe it's something in the water. Maybe it's the Carolina sunshine. Maybe it's the barbeque. Whatever it is, North Carolina has given the world more than its fair share of singing idols, including Clay Aiken of Raleigh, Fantasia Barrino of High Point, and Kellie Pickler of Albermarle. Are you next? Catawba College announces the first annual Salisbury Idol contest (not related to American Idol) to give singers of all ages and styles living in Rowan County and beyond the opportunity of showing th

Dr. James Slate, associate professor of economics at Catawba College, presented a paper entitled "Toward Economic Geography in the Economic Principles Course" at the 18th annual International Conference on College Teaching and Learning in Ponte Vedra, Fla., on April 5th.

A new Catawba College Business Advisory Board has recently been formed which will offer assistance to the Ketner School of Business. The 31-member Board, which has held its initial meeting and plans to reconvene March 16, consists of local and regional business professionals.

One of Catawba College's 2006 graduates, who was the first place winner of the BMI Foundation's 9th Annual John Lennon Scholarship Awards, is a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC).

Karen G. Gaskill, an adjunct professor of accounting at Catawba College, has been tapped for service on a newly formed Financial Literacy Council established by the N.C. Association of CPAs.

Raleigh, NC (November 28, 2006) Cindy Stranad, principal of Articulon, a boutique public relations and branding firm, announces today the completion of an identity package for Phil Kirk, vice president of external relations of Catawba College in Salisbury and owner of his own speaking and consulting business. Articulon completed and distributed a branded business capabilities package as well as created a positioning themeline, "Speaking. Entertaining. Informing."

Catawba College's Business Honor Society recently inducted new members. New members, all of whom are juniors, include Christopher T. Brown of Burlington; Theresa B. Owens of Salisbury; Christopher B. Rae of Hudson, Wis.; and Carrie L. Wollaston of Landenburg, Pa. Officers for the organization this year include seniors Hayley M. Bollinger of Simpsonville, S.C., president; and Nicki S. Vaughn of Graham, secretary.

Pamela L. Thompson, an associate professor of business and information systems, has accepted a two-year appointment as chair of Catawba College's Ralph E. Ketner School of Business, effective with the 2006-2007 academic year.

Rising seniors majoring in business administration at Catawba College will be eligible for a new scholarship established by William E. '53 and Virginia Samuels of West End, N.C. The William E. and Virginia Samuels Endowed Scholarship will both recognize and provide financial assistance for a rising senior business major who both demonstrates leadership ability and was on Catawba’s Dean’s List during his or her junior year.

Pi Sigma Epsilon National Professional Fraternity has been reactivated at Catawba College's Ralph Ketner School of Business. Last active on campus in 2000, the professional fraternity's membership will come primarily from marketing and business administration majors, but is also open to students in other majors who have an interest in marketing and/or Colllege/community service.

Dr. J. Andrew Morris, Dr. James W. Slate, Dr. Jason Hunt, and Dr. John Zerger had a paper entitled "Overcoming Bad Management Theory: Rediscovering Moral Sentiments" accepted for presentation at the 2006 Academy of Management (AOM)Annual Conference The AOM is the premier outlet for management research.

A 1998 Catawba College alumnus and his wife have established a scholarship at the institution. Preference for the J. Trent and Ruth K. Newell Endowed Scholarship will be given to a member of the football team who is majoring in business and is involved in volunteerism.

Ms. Pamela Thompson, associate professor of business administration/information systems at Catawba College, has agreed to serve as interim chair of the Ketner School of Business for spring semester 2006.

Catawba College Professor Business Dr. Stephen Hiatt has been involved in a variety of activities outside the classroom. Hiatt has served and will serve on the Salisbury Convention Center Task Force. He recently completed serving on the Business Incubator Task Force for the City of Salisbury.

Dr. Andrew Morris, Associate Professor of Management in the Ketner School of Business along with co-authors from Western Carolina University and Université du Québec à Montréal had an article accepted for publication...

Dr. Andrew Morris, associate professor of management in the Ketner School of Business, recently had 3 poems published in the cutting-edge poetry journal, Right Hand Pointing.

In September, Catawba College Associate Professor of Management Dr. Andrew Morris will pedal for the 10th year in the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Tour and he’s challenging both students and colleagues to either join him or support his efforts.

Dr. Andrew Morris, an associate professor of management in Catawba College's Ketner School of Business, recently presented a cross-disciplinary paper entitled, "Bringing Positive Psychology into the Business Classroom: Gratitude Visits as a way to Develop Emotional Intelligence" at the 32nd annual Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference.

Dr. John B. “Jack” Green, an associate professor of marketing in Catawba College’s Ketner School of Business, and one of his students, Allan C. Rohrbaugh of Lexington, a junior in the Lifelong Learning program, recently participated in the Marketing Science Conference at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

Eight members of the Catawba College faculty and staff were among those recognized during the 2005 Awards Convocation held April 21 in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus.

Thanks to internship stints in the non-profit world, students from Catawba College’s Ketner School of Business will have broader perspectives when they graduate.

Dr. Paul Baker, a Catawba College mathematics professor, recently made a presentation to the Rowan County Ministerial Association about his mission trips to Russia and Cambodia. He also delivered the sermon at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Kannapolis on Feb. 13, along with the sermon for the 6 p.m. on-campus worship service that same day.