Lipscomb’s College of Business is continuing to make advancements thanks to the generosity of alumni and dedicated professors.
Dr. Ray Eldridge had the privilege of introducing two additions to the Swang Center this weekend.
The Nowers Family Business as Mission Suite and the Bay and Mary Ann Roberts Telepresence Center were dedicated and celebrated during Lipscomb’s Homecoming festivities.
Senior Alexandria Arnette works closely with professor Rob Touchstone and the Business as Mission department. She, along with other Business as Mission students, is ecstatic about the advantages and benefits the new Nowers Family Business as Mission Suite will provide them.
“The new Business as Mission Suite gives students a place to meet and work on local and global projects in addition to developing their own entrepreneurial ventures,” Arnette said.
Burton Nowers is the president of Healing Hands International. Healing Hands was created by Lipscomb’s marketing professor, Dr. Randy Steger. In the early 1990s, Steger proposed a different approach his students could take toward the end of semester project. Through his marketing class, where Nowers was a student, Healing Hands International was started by showing God’s love and healing to those around the world through medicine, education, agriculture and disaster relief.
Both Nowers and his wife, Lisa, are Lipscomb alumni who believe in helping students pursue their heart’s missional desire.
To further the enhancement of using business as mission, the Bay and Mary Ann Roberts Telepresence Center was named in dedication of the Roberts’ parents. Prior to the celebration, the glass-windowed room, Swang 100, was simply viewed as just another ordinary classroom, but to heighten the Business as Mission department, video chat features have been implemented throughout the room.
Students will now have the opportunity to video chat with local and global communities to enhance their learning capabilities. The feature will allow for multiple conversations to happen at the same time and give students real-world experience.
“It’s like traveling around the world without actually going there in person,” said Franklin Roberts, grandson of Bay and Mary Ann Roberts and son of John Roberts. “It’s more efficient.”
The entire Roberts family was present during the dedication of the Bay and Mary Ann Telepresence Center.
J. Roberts said his parents believed in a strong worth ethic, and they demonstrated their work ethic daily, especially on the way they impacted lives. The Roberts family said they have been impacted by the Lipscomb community, so they made a contribution in memory of their parents — to enrich the lives of young entrepreneurs.
“We know that if you want to help people — truly — you have to impact their lives,” J. Roberts noted.
The Bay and Mary Ann Telepresence Center’s features were presented to the Roberts’ family and friends.
The College of Business also honored Dr. George Boulware and Dr. William Ingram for their many years of service. Both men will be retiring from the College of Business after the spring semester.