Dr. Negbenebor

Dr. Negbenebor like many was brought to Gardner-Webb by pure chance. The humble Dean of the Business School came to America from Nigeria in 1975 around the age of 15. He had been here before because his father’s job caused them to move a lot. “ It’s hard to say when I actually came to America because I traveled back and forth a lot when I was younger, even still I travel back home a lot.” He attended college in America at Mississippi State where he did track and field. He began his career studying agricultural engineering technology, but finished with a degree in economics. After college he got a job at Procter & Gamble a cereal foods company. “I was a low level official. I’d just gotten out of college and didn’t know what I was doing.” When asked how he arrived at Gardner-Webb University he leaned back in his chair and began to tell me what he called a “long story”. “I had a friend that I had graduated with that was at Gardner-Webb and I was searching for a Christian school that would allow me to express my faith in the classroom. So Gardner-Webb came into the radar and they were looking for someone in my field so I applied and God brought me here.” He then gave God all the glory as he laughingly stated “I didn’t know where Gardner-Webb was!”. He interviewed here and was soon hired. As a Dean of the Business School he is in charge of the operations and well-being of the Business School from the basic to the most complicated tasks. If anything goes wrong he would be held responsible. Dr. Negbenebor also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses all in economics. “I am teaching Economics to you, Managerial in the graduate, Foundation in the graduate, and Topics in Economics.” As if being a teacher wasn’t enough he is also a commissioner for the Accreditation Council. “My responsibility is that I have to approve other schools to be accredited in the business school. I have to visit their programs to make sure that they are meeting the accreditation by-laws. I enjoy doing this because I can see what other schools are doing better than us and bring those ideas back home.” He told me that after our interview he was expecting a call from the University of Puerto Rico to discuss their business school as he had just reviewed them. This job causes him to travel abroad a lot which he said “It’s good for Gardner-Webb cause wherever I go I take the school with me.” He loves his job and he loves his students, he jokingly said “No students, no job.”. His fondest memory is working with the many students he has had during his 22 years at Gardner-Webb. “I have taught so many students and to see them doing well just gives me the inner satisfaction because that’s what education is all about, helping folks to be the best they could possibly be.”  He then goes on to joke about how if I were the president of a company in Jamaica he would be proud of me too.

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