Business honor society chapter inducts faculty, 30 students

The Beta Gamma Sigma chapter at the Hull College of Business held its induction ceremony virtually on Fri., Apr. 16, where 21 undergraduate students and nine graduate students were inducted for 2021.

Student membership in the society is based on grade point average, and an invitation is made to those in the top 10% of their class. Additionally, an honorary community member and a faculty member were inducted into the honor society, and Professor of the Year, an award voted on by the new class of inductees to honor a faculty member who is passionate about the success of Hull students and their future careers, was announced.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony came from honorary community inductee and Augusta University alumnus Alan Griffin, President of MCBS, a healthcare management company located in Augusta.

In Griffin’s advice to students, he said there is a challenge to achieve family-life and work-life balance. “If you want to have balance, you’ve got to work to pay for that balance,” he said. “I encourage you to find that balance in life and find what you have a passion for.”

Griffin suggested students become involved in a few community organizations and to find a way to make “giving back” a part of their time commitment along with family and work.

Following the keynote address, two senior inductees, Zee Baker and Jerod Carrier, to Beta Gamma Sigma revealed the 2021 Professor of the Year.

“I have never met a professor that genuinely cares more about her students and wants them to succeed,” said Mary “Zee” Baker, senior BBA student. “Without Dr. Furman being so involved with her students, I simply would not be where I am today.”

Melissa Furman, DBA, a lecturer of business and management, received the 2021 Professor of the Year award and was the faculty inductee into the honor society in 2018.

Robyn Verdery, MBA, a lecturer in accounting, was named the faculty inductee and is the new faculty advisor for Hull’s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter.

Graduate inductees included Khadijah Alexander, Ryan Bloomquist, Steven Holsten, Jeffrey James, Chinmaya Mareddy, Tammy Murrell, Ripa Patel, Chidrup Tripathi, and Jonathan Turner.

Undergraduate inductees were Iricel Ayala-Anderson, Mary Baker, Jerod Carrier, Nathaniel Carrion, Kevin Conkright, David Eckler, Sydney Frie, Floyd Geesler, James Hagler, Cassie Hardy, Abigail Hennebaul, Herick Isago, Gabrielle Kay, Alyssa Monroe, Gerald Murray, Rebecca Ranieri, Allie Ristoph, Ricard Rubio, Chelsea Smith, Jasmyn Smith, and Rebecca Wilson.

Beta Gamma Sigma, founded in 1913, is the scholastic honor society dedicated to principles and ideals essential to a worthy life as well as to a commendable business career. The Chapter at Hull was established in 2006, with more than 400 inducted into the society to date.