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Chairman of BB&T John Allison presented his lecture
to faculty, staff and students. |
Randolph-Macon College’s Board of Associates (BOA) invited John Allison, chairman of the BB&T Corporation, to campus on November 19, 2009 as part of its Executive Speakers Series. His lecture, titled “Principled Leadership,” was given to R-MC students, faculty and staff in the college’s Copley Science Center.
Allison spoke about the importance of businesses having strong values that help employees make smart, rational and competitive business decisions. Allison told the standing-room-only crowd, “Businesses, just like people, need to have a sense of purpose.” He added, “Values are practical habits that enable us as individuals to live, be successful and achieve happiness.” Allison noted that BB&T has ten core values and he believes those values, used together, can “dramatically change the probability of making the right business decisions.” The lecture was followed by a question and answer session.
BB&T Corporation is the 10th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the U. S. Allison began his service with BB&T in 1971 and has managed a wide variety of responsibilities throughout the bank. He became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected chairman and CEO in July 1989. During Allison's tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. In March 2009, he joined the faculty of Wake Forest University Schools of Business as Distinguished Professor of Practice.
Allison has expertise in leadership/organizational development, finance/banking and mergers/acquisitions. He is actively involved in presentations at universities on "Principled Leadership" and with academic, business and community organizations on the current financial/economic environment.
Allison serves on the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Board of Visitors, the Board of Visitors at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is also a member of the boards of directors of the Independent College Fund and the Global TransPark Foundation.
Randolph-Macon recently received a $500,000 grant from the BB&T Charitable Foundation. The grant will be used to expand the study of ethics, economics and capitalism through a broadened curriculum, faculty and student research, internships and one-on-one interaction with business leaders.
Created by the R-MC Board of Trustees in 1980, the Board of Associates is an organization of men and women who have pledged to join their talents, energies, resources and wisdom to advance the mission of Randolph-Macon College. Through collective involvements and individual activities, members of the Board of Associates strive to procure new and sustained financial resources, to attract qualified students, to enhance the image and reputation of the institution, to enrich the educational experience of the students, and to provide advice and opportunities to students in preparation for fulfilling careers.
For more information, contact Robert Patterson, director of corporate and foundation relations, at 804-752-3605.