By Ethan Sirles
This year, Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) College of Business, ranked among the top 6% of business schools globally, celebrates 60 years of preparing students to excel and lead in the world of business.
“The College of Business is proof of EKU’s dedication to innovation in our global world,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “Throughout 60 years, EKU has graduated approximately 20,000 alumni from our business programs. Our students and alumni are game changers in the business field, and this legacy will continue well into the future. Business degree programs are consistently among our top-enrolled at EKU and frequently earn recognition and rankings on the national stage.”
EKU’s College of Business has experienced a 40% increase in enrollment since 2020, and more than three-fourths of EKU business majors are employed in Kentucky within one year of graduating. Furthermore, programs in Global Supply Chain and Accounting boast nearly 100% job placement rate, while Central Kentucky corporations, like Toyota, Valvoline, Carhartt and others, eagerly hire EKU graduates.
“The largest companies in Kentucky are looking for EKU MBA graduates,” said Logan Smith, ’20. “There are companies who will not look at other universities because the graduates of EKU are so strong and there have been so many of them move up in their organizations with key deliverables.”
EKU’s business legacy first began in 1964, when the EKU Department of Commerce became the Department of Business. Over its first decade, EKU Business began offering a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), named its first dean and expanded to offer five concentrations in accounting, business administration, business education, office administration and economics. By 1980, the College of Business was the fastest growing academic unit at EKU. Later in the decade, the college added its Risk Management and Insurance program—consistently one of the top-ranked programs in the country.
In 1998, Dr. Robert Rogow was named the dean of the college. He set a vision of gaining accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and the college officially gained AACSB accreditation in 2003.
“To provide perspective, less than 6% of business schools worldwide are accredited by AACSB,” said Rogow. “As such, EKU’s business graduates benefit by being hired by employers in Kentucky and the region who only hire from AACSB-accredited business schools.”
Under Rogow’s leadership, the College of Business constructed a state-of-the-art Business Center, created new programs like the only PGA Golf Management program in the Commonwealth or surrounding states, while continuing to experience remarkable growth.
Following Rogow’s retirement in 2015, Dr. Thomas Erekson became the dean, with a focus on adapting the college to modern business trends.
“We launched online degree programs, increasing student access to AACSB-accredited business degrees,” said Erekson. “We also identified and built niche programs, like the Berman Center for Professional Sales and Kentucky’s first Supply Chain Management undergraduate program.”
In 2022, Dr. Tom Martin was named the dean of the College of Business. The most recent reaffirmation of the AACSB accreditation was in 2023, keeping EKU at the forefront of business education.
“For 60 years, EKU business has been leading transformative education, preparing innovative professionals for global impact,” said Dean Martin. “Our faculty are entrepreneurs of ideas, committed to perpetual innovation, firmly placed in theory and practice. This focus has provided our students and alumni with habits of learning that make their lives better every day, as well as the communities they work, lead and serve.”
Under Martin’s leadership, the college continues to grow enrollment across all programs, advance the Path to Excellence strategic plan, increase corporate giving and support, and uphold its status as a top-tier business school.
The EKU College of Business offers a comprehensive range of programs—on campus and online—including an MBA, several bachelor’s degree programs, associate degree programs and professional certificates.