COBE's Global Capitalism Lecture Series set for Oct. 31

Russell S. Sobel, visiting scholar in entrepreneurship in the School of Business Administration at The Citadel, will be the guest speaker at the College of Business and Economics (COBE) Global Capitalism Distinguished Speaker Series Oct. 31.

Sobel will speak about "Economic Freedom, Entrepreneurship and Prosperity" at 11 a.m. in the Radford University COBE Building, room 320.

Sobel serves on the editorial board for three academic journals and on the advisory board for four university centers. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and research, including the 2008 Sir Anthony Fisher Award for best state policy publication of the year. Sobel's recent research focuses in the areas of state economic policy reform and entrepreneurship.

Sobel has authored or co-authored more than 150 books and articles, including a nationally best selling college principles of economics textbook. His research has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, Investor's Business Daily and The Economist Magazine. He has appeared on CNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, NPR and the CBS Evening News. 

In addition to his role at The Citadel, Sobel serves as a visiting fellow at the South Carolina Policy Council.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Sobel earned his bachelor's degree in business economics from Francis Marion College in 1990, and his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University in 1994.

COBE's Global Capitalism Distinguished Speaker Series is an ongoing collaboration between BB&T and the college to stimulate thought and discussion about capitalism, the tenets of free enterprise and the best practices of successful organizations.

Sobel joins a distinguished group of previous speakers who have participated in the BB&T-COBE series: Christopher Coyne, director of graduate studies of the Department of Economics at George Mason University; Hamid Ghanadan, founder and president of the Linus Group; Mary Rose Carosia and Theresa Werner of S&P Capital IQ; Kevin Daley, a past vice president at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and founder of Communispond; former BB&T Chair and Chief Executive Officer John Allison; Jason Bingham, vice president, Central Territory of North America, for Ingersoll Rand; and Keith Shields, senior statistician and analytic development lead for Marketing Associates in Detroit.