Walker College of Business

Alex Angeli '16, '17

BSBA, Management/Marketing

MBA

Ashburn, Virginia

My favorite Walker College memory is...
My year in the MBA program. I returned to the mountains and did the full time one year program. I had never slept less, worked more, made less, been more in debt; yet been happier in my life. You leave Boone and realize just how special our mountains are, our community, and our university.

• Accounting alumnus and Business Advisory Council Member Emeritus James “Jamie” E. Harris ’84 was appointed to App State's Board of Trustees. Previous appointments include computer information systems and management alumnus James M.

Princeton Review

The Princeton Review named App State’s Walker College of Business in its “The Best Business Schools 2021” list, which recognizes a total of 244 national colleges and universities for having the best on-campus Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree programs. 

• In 2013, the Walker College became a founding member of the Appalachian Research in Business Symposium.
• In 2016, the Walker College of Business would name a recently renovated Graduate Programs and Research Suite in Peacock Hall in honor of alumnus and supporter Dr. Lee Barnes.

• A Peacock Hall modernization project saw the addition of the Broyhill Commons, a networking space on the second floor of Peacock Hall that provides students a place to study, work on group projects, share ideas, build relationships and network with industry representatives and faculty. The modernization project was possible through fundraising efforts, including a Broyhill Family Foundation lead gift. The modernization also improved second floor spaces: the Blue Ridge Energy Boardroom, the George and Ann Beasley Classroom, and the Yadkin Bank Classroom.

• The Appalachian State University Scholarship Golf Classic, also known as the Beroth Golf Tournament, was first held. The tournament, coordinated by alumnus and Business Advisory Council member emeritus Winfield Beroth raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for business students between 1993 and 2019.
• The first annual Lewis L. Mack Alumni Day was held in 1999.

In 1995, Mr. G.A. Sywassink, Chairman and CEO of Standard Holding Corporation, funded an annual Day of Excellence to recognize faculty for their outstanding teaching, research and service. A long-time supporter of Appalachian, Mr. Sywassink is a former member and chair of the Business Advisory Council for the Walker College. He is past chair of Appalachian's Board of Trustees and a past member of the UNC System Board of Governors.

• Dr. Sandra Vannoy began serving as Acting Dean of the Walker College in February 2020, while Dr. Heather Norris served as Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.
• A fully online MBA program was designed and launched in Fall 2020.

• In 2017, the Walker College had launched a Master of Science in Applied Data Analytics program with Dr. Lakshmi Iyer at the program's helm.
• In 2019, the Walker College added a Business Analytics Minor to the programs offered, providing students with skills in collecting and managing data, designing experiments, programming, detecting patterns in data.

Walker College student scholarships topped $500,000 annually. The need remains great, with only approximately 10% of business students receiving scholarship awards annually.