Truist Leadership Program

With a gift from the Truist Financial Corporation, the Davis College of Business and Economics initiated the Truist Leadership program in the 2019-20 academic year. The overall goal of this program is to instill ethical leadership into the student body through a wide variety of targeted activities. The program is overseen by a full-time faculty member, presently Ben Biermeier-Hanson, Ph.D., who also carries the Truist Leadership Faculty designation.

By design, the program attempts to instill leadership qualities in students through a portfolio of annual activities that encompass student training, external engagements, student mentorship as well as infusion of ethical leadership concepts into the University curriculum. The program achieves its objectives through three main activities:

Truist Leadership Symposium: Every Fall, senior leadership of an organization that is reputed for its corporate social responsibility is invited to campus to interact with senior leadership, faculty, staff and students. This event, which extends over two days includes guest lecturing in courses, special meetings with faculty and staff and culminates with a lunch symposium that involves members of the community.
“Emerging Leaders Certificate” Training: Every semester, students from across Radford University are provided the opportunity to receive this certification, offered by the Truist Leadership Institute. The training is provided by the Truist Leadership Faculty and results in students obtaining this industry-recognized certification prior to graduation.
Course Development Grants: Every Spring semester, the program offers course development grants to faculty across the University to incorporate ethical leadership and social responsibility into their courses.