The College of Business Administration will continue its Distinguished Speakers Series this fall with Cheryl Bachelder, president and CEO of AFC Enterprises, parent company of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
Bachelder will speak at a luncheon at 11:45 a.m. on Nov. 3 at the Robert D. and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center. She is one of eight significant figures of the corporate world that has spoken since the series was initiated in 2000.
Past speakers include:Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS; Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Inc.; and Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Inc.
Amanda Pittman, marketing associate of the COBA office and coordinator of the Distinguish Speaker Series, said the purpose of the series is to give students opportunities to learn from some of the most successful people in business.
“Speakers come and share stories of their path to where they are now and give words of advice to the next generation of business leaders,” Pittman said.
Though the speakers are not limited to Christians, when a speaker is Christian they are encouraged by COBA to speak about their faith and how it influenced their career, Pittman said.
“It’s always great to hear from Christian leaders in your future profession,” said Will Mack, sophomore accounting major from Boerne.
Pittman said COBA has advocated the role of “missionary in the market place” for some time. Pittman also said an objective of asking Christian speakers to speak about their faith has been to show students that religion and career success can co-exist.
“We want students to walk away seeing success and seeing people that are still committed believers,” said Pittman.
In addition to presenting for an audience, the speakers also engage in conversation with students. A goal of the series is for the students to have real conversations with real people not associated with ACU, Pittman said. Pittman also said a recently developed goal is for students to hear about career paths that started in college rather than after a degree is earned.
Pittman said any and all students are invited to attend the luncheon. Admission is free, but a limited seats are left. Interested students should register online at www.acu.edu/coba-dss. Faculty and staff are also welcome to attend for a ticket purchase with a FOAP for $10 at the same website.
For more information about the distinguished speakers visit www.acu.edu/academics/coba/student-opportunities/programs/speakerseries.html.
