WILSON, N.C. — Barton College’s newly established Sigma Beta Delta, International Honor Society in Business, Management, and Administration, recently held its inaugural induction ceremony. Conducting the ceremony for charter members of the Barton College chapter was Dr. James H. Bearden, former dean of the School of Business at East Carolina University and currently the university’s director of the BB&T Center for Leadership Development. Dr. Bearden is the founding president of Sigma Beta Delta. Also assisting with the induction service was Dr. John Burbridge, professor of operations and supply chain management and former dean of the Martha and Spenser Love School of Business at Elon University.
Sigma Beta Delta, Inc. was founded in 1994 and installed its first chapter at Belmont University. The honor society was established to encourage and recognize scholarship and accomplishment among students of business, management, and administration, and to encourage and promote aspirations toward personal and professional improvement and a life distinguished by honorable service to humankind. Sigma Beta Delta has over 350 chapters and over 58,000 members.
Candidates for bachelor’s degrees in accounting or business management at Barton College, who rank academically in the upper 20 percent of the junior or senior class at the time of the invitation to membership, may be inducted into membership following completion of at least one-half of the degree program in which they are enrolled. Transfer students who meet the qualifications for membership may be inducted after they have completed a minimum of one term of work at the College in an accounting or business management degree program, provided their overall record, in the judgment of the collegiate chapter, is of Sigma Beta Delta caliber.
Faculty and administration from the Barton College community inducted as charter members of Sigma Beta Delta included: Dr. John J. Bethune, professor and Dorothy and K.D. Kennedy Endowed Chair of Business and director of the BB&T Center for Free Enterprise Education; Dr. Neal M. Bengtson, president and advisor of Sigma Beta Delta and professor of business; Patricia N. Burrus, assistant professor and acting dean of the School of Business; Rena Biniek Corbett, secretary/treasurer of Sigma Beta Delta and assistant professor of accounting; Ronald E. Eggers, associate professor of business; Dr. Richard A. Lee, vice president of Sigma Beta Delta and associate professor of business; Teresa C. Parker, associate professor of business; Yvonne E. Shanks, assistant professor of business; Dr. Norval C. Kneten, president of Barton College; and Dr. Terrence L. Grimes, vice president for academic affairs. Also inducted as honorary charter members of Sigma Beta Delta were Russell L. Stephenson, Jr., chair of the Barton College Board of Trustees; and James S. Pridgen, Barton College trustee.
Student charter member inductees from the School of Business include:
From the Junior Class:
Clemmons — Kyle Benjamin Duck.
Wilson — Teresa Ann Bovia and Rosario Ochoa.
From the Senior Class:
Bailey — Ismelda Salazar Hernandez.
Santana de Parnaiba, Brazil — Leandro Carvalho Peron.
Casper, Wyo. — Jordan Parker Smith.
Creedmoor — Brittany Leeann Keith.
Farmville — Gregory James Warren.
Greenville — Tammy Marie Sumerlin.
Henderson — Jonathan Charles Strother.
Kenly — Wendy Lynn Pendergraph.
Mexico City, Mexico — Diego Salvador Salinas.
Middlesex — Charles Edward Watson.
Oxford — Meagan Leigh Parrott.
Selma — Ridge Addison Pruitt.
Silver Spring, Md. — Mihai Alexandru Petcu.
Sims — Lily Alyson Flowers.
Walstonburg — Gail Avent Perkins.
Wilson — Marilyn Wolfgong Logan, Tyler Blaker Stallings, and Lovery Barfield Thompson.
[PHOTO: Front Row (from left): James S. Pridgen, Rena Biniek Corbett, Wendy Lynn Pendergraph, Lovey Barfield Thompson, Tammy Marie Sumerlin, Meagan Leigh Parrott, Ismelda Salazar Hernandez, Patricia N. Burrus, Dr. Norval C. Kneten, and Dr. James H. Bearden. Row 2 (from left): Teresa Parker, Tyler Blaker Stallings, Leandro Carvalho Peron, Rosario Ochoa, Marilyn Wolfgong Logan, Jordan Parker Smith, Dr. Neal Bengtson, Yvonne Shanks, and Kyle Benjamin Duck. Row 3 (from left): Dr. John Burbridge, Teresa Ann Bovia, Charles Edward Watson, Gail Avent Perkins, Jonathan Charles Strother, Diego Salvador Salinas, Dr. Richard A. Lee, and Dr. John J. Bethune. Back Row (from left): Russell L. Stephenson, Jr., Ridge Addison Pruitt, Lily Alyson Flowers, Mihai Alexandru Petcu, Ronald E. Eggers, Brittany Leeann Keith, and Dr. Terrence L. Grimes. (Gregory James Warren was unable to be in the photo.)]
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