Professor Supports School of Business Administration Teaching Excellence Endowment at USC Aiken
December 5, 2007
The School of Business Administration at the University of South Carolina Aiken received a generous contribution recently thanks to the support of USC Aiken Professor of Finance, Dr. Bill Marsh.
Marsh’s gift, one of the largest ever contributed by a USC Aiken faculty member, will be used to establish the School of Business Administration Teaching Excellence Endowment. Funding for the endowment will provide support for an annual award to a School of Business Administration faculty member in order to recognize outstanding teaching. The criteria for the award include a strong record of teaching evaluations, letters of recommendations from students, and overall contributions to the mission of the School of Business Administration.
“Dr. Marsh has dedicated his professional career to teaching,” said Dr. Ralph Byington, School of Business Administration dean. “With his work in the classroom and on textbooks and related teaching instruments, he has always put his students first. We are indeed fortunate to have this legacy for Dr. Marsh and know that his students, current and former, will join us in thanking Dr. Marsh for his generosity.”
Rhett Sinclair, a 1987 alum, is one such student. “Dr. Marsh was one of the best teachers we had in college,” Sinclair said. “The word ‘teacher’ actually symbolizes Dr. Marsh because he taught us how to think, assess, and figure out the financial problems we were to solve. Even after graduating, I occasionally call Dr. Marsh for his sage advice. He is a great asset to USC Aiken and its School of Business, and I am excited he is funding a Teaching Excellence Endowment for our school.”
Marsh, now in his 26 th year at USC Aiken, received his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of South Carolina. He earned his BS in Industrial Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his MBA at Georgia Southern University. Marsh has worked as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, as an industrial engineer, and a professor of business administration. In addition, he has written several journal articles, two casebooks, and two textbooks: Basic Financial Management and Discovering Statistics, co-authored along with James S. Hawkes.
“We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Marsh’s many contributions to the School of Business Administration,” said Chancellor Thomas L. Hallman, “and we are proud to note that he now has the distinction of having made one of the largest gifts ever contributed by a USC Aiken faculty member. We commend Dr. Marsh for his many years of service to our students, as well as for his generosity and the positive impact this gift will have for his students, his colleagues, and his profession as a whole.”
According to Marsh, two factors contributed to his decision to make the gift. “First, I would like to encourage professors to focus on good teaching,” he said. “At USC Aiken, there are many fine teachers, and I think they should be recognized. Establishing an award in the School of Business could be just the beginning. The second reason is really a continuation of the first. I would like people to step up and establish academic scholarships in the name of teachers that were a special influence in their lives. Others could then add money to these scholarships over time until the scholarship is fully funded.”
The School of Business Administration at USC Aiken focuses on creating a caring learning environment in its accredited undergraduate program. The program prepares students to meet the global, technological, and ethical challenges of a dynamic business and society.
from left to right: Dr. Ralph Byington, School of Business Administration dean; Dr. Bill Marsh,
professor of finance; and Dr. Tom Hallman, USC Aiken chancellor
