COBE bestows honors, inducts students into BGS honor society
Beta Gamma Sigma pins
In two distinct ceremonies on Nov. 19, Radford University's College of Business and Economics (COBE) celebrated and honored the extraordinary achievements of its students.
The evening began with the induction of 25 students into the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) honor society.
"This is one of those special milestones as we recognize your achievements as you move from college student to working professional and onward into the success of your careers," said COBE Dean George Low while opening the ceremony. "There’s no greater honor we can bestow as a college than to invite our students to join Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honorary for academic excellence in business programs."
New inductees were seniors Tara Combs, Zachary Dean, Ramzi Dridi, Nathan Facemire, Connor Hayden, William Hopkins, Donald Jones, Brandon McCormick, Sarah Oakes, Matthew Rosenbaum, Cameron Smith, Jordan Stidham, Spencer Stinson, Paul Thrush and Cody Vaught.
Junior inductees were Nicholas Altman, Collin Beckham, Heather Beegle, Benjamin Buzzard, Madeline Kronberger, Mary Kronberger, Georgia Logan and James McCauley.
Graduate student Ryan Naff was inducted, and Nicholas Sayer was a second recognition MBA inductee.
The International Honor Society Beta Gamma Sigma recognizes academic excellence at the world's top business schools – those accredited by AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
"Students selected for Beta Gamma Sigma are the absolute best in AACSB-accredited colleges of business," said Angela Stanton, faculty advisor for the RU chapter of BGS.
Membership in the BGS is limited to juniors and seniors who rank in the top 10 percent of their class or MBA students in the top 20 percent. Since its founding in 1913, the society has established more than 520 collegiate chapters in 22 countries.
"Only the top percentage of students are invited to join," Low said. "Thus, we honor the best of the best this evening. We are very proud of you. Well done."
Following the BGS induction, the college held its fall honors program in the COBE Building’s multipurpose room to recognize its Outstanding Student Award winners.
Newly inducted members of the RU Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma
"These awards are for individuals who have demonstrated excellence both in and out of the classroom and have been selected by their respective faculty as outstanding in their discipline," Low said before introducing each winner.
The winners included:
- Juna Gjata, Outstanding MBA Student Award
- Christopher Dunn, Outstanding Professional MBA Student Award
- William Hopkins, Outstanding Economics Student Award
- Tara Combs, Outstanding Management Student Award
- James Eggers, Outstanding Marketing Student Award
Before student awards were announced, Low presented a recognition of honors to "acknowledge the excellence" of students who are members of Alpha Mu Alpha, Beta Alpha Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Omicron Delta Epsilon and Sigma Iota Epsilon.