College of Business announces academic leadership appointments
As planning for the fall is underway, new leaders continue to build growing College of Business programs.
Kim Chaudoin |
Lipscomb University College of Business Dean Ray Eldridge recently announced several academic leadership appointments for the college.
Marcy Binkley, assistant professor of accounting, and Julio Rivas, associate professor of finance, have both been promoted to academic leadership positions in the College of Business. Binkley has been appointed director of the Master of Accountancy program and interim chair of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics. Rivas has been appointed director of the Master of Business Administration program. Both will retain their faculty appointments in addition to their new administrative assignments.
Marcy Binkley
“We are blessed to have such talented faculty and staff in the College of Business. We strive to be a highly effective team, and part of that includes our commitment to develop leaders. It is a privilege to include Dr. Binkley and Dr. Rivas on the leadership team in our pursuit of excellence,” said Eldridge. “They have both excelled in their teaching, research and service endeavors and fully live out our mission to ‘develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus.’ Accepting these key leadership responsibilities is the next step in their commitment to our mission and our students.”
Binkley, a certified public accountant, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the College of Business. Prior to joining the Lipscomb faculty, Binkley worked in external audit at EY, as well as internal audit and corporate accounting at Genesco. This past spring, Binkley completed a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As part of her dissertation research, Binkley completed a disclosure analysis identifying determinants of cybersecurity breach as signaled in part by information technology governance. Binkley also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Harding University and a Master of Accountancy from Vanderbilt University.
“I appreciate the opportunity to continue to build on the strong foundation laid by my predecessor Brian Masterson. Lipscomb currently has one of the most competitive programs in the nation with a tremendous first-time CPA pass rate,” said Binkley. “This is a particularly exciting time to lead an accounting program as the profession continues to evolve. Our program is uniquely positioned to adapt well to the upcoming CPA exam changes and the impact of emerging technology in practice. Additionally, we are located in a city experiencing exponential growth and are proud to offer numerous learning, internship and job opportunities for our students.”
Julio Rivas
Lipscomb’s College of Business offers an undergraduate degree in accounting as well as a graduate Certificate of Accountancy for Professionals, the Master of Accountancy and an accounting boot camp. These programs are consistently ranked the top in Tennessee and among the best in the nation. The first-time CPA exam pass rate for Lipscomb MAcc students is nearly 80%, well above the national average, and undergraduate accounting students have a 100 percent job placement rate after graduation.
A member of the Lipscomb faculty since 2012, Rivas has taught a wide variety of finance, economics and international business classes, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has also led four international trips with MBA students to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the student-led Association of Latino Professionals For America organization in the College of Business. He is also currently involved in the board of two academic organizations, Society for Case Research and Institute for Global Business Research. Rivas has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Monterrey Tech, Guadalajara (Mexico) Campus, and a PhD in Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.
“It is a great honor to be appointed director of the MBA program, which is consistently ranked among the top in the nation year-after-year. I think our MBA graduates have great potential and opportunities,” said Rivas. “Nashville is growing and becoming a stronger referent in the business world. As such, we need to be aware that our MBAs can have good opportunities, and be able to help them take full advantage. We not only want our students to have the knowledge and skills that are required for a career, we also want to prepare them for the future by continually staying ahead of the curve with the latest technology, strategies and approaches.”
Lipscomb offers a professional and a fast-track MBA program. The Professional MBA program is a part-time program with classes meeting primarily one night per week and is designed for the full-time working professional. The Fast Track MBA is a part-time program created for professionals with under three years of work experience. The program meets one or two nights a week depending on semester and term. Lipscomb’s MBA program was ranked the No. 2 part-time MBA program in Tennessee in 2016 by Bloomberg/BusinessWeek and is consistently ranked among the best in the nation.
Rivas succeeds Rick Holaway, assistant professor of marketing, as the director of the MBA program. Holaway continues to serve as chair of the Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and Marketing.
About the Lipscomb University College of Business
Fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs, one of the two largest business-accrediting bodies in the world, Lipscomb University’s College of Business is recognized nationally as a leader in business education. The college has been named the No. 1 Undergraduate Business Program in Tennessee for five straight years by Poets & Quant. In 2020 it was listed as one of the 10 Undergraduate Business Programs to watch. Its accounting program was ranked the top program in Tennessee and among the top 10 percent in the nation in the 2019 College Factual rankings. It is the fourth year Lipscomb’s accounting program has been named the top program in Tennessee. The department of accounting also earned a ranking of 14th in the nation and number one in the state of Tennessee for the second consecutive year for Best Accounting Programs for Veterans. Bloomberg BusinessWeek in its last ranking in 2016, identified the part-time MBA program as #2 in Tennessee. In addition, it was named the No. 1 accounting program in Tennessee and No. 2 in the nation in 2017 by Christian Universities Online.
Other recent honors include: No. 2 Part-time MBA program in TN, Top 50 in the Nation (Bloomberg/Businessweek) - 2015; No. 1 accounting program in TN and top 10% in the Nation (College Online) - 2018; No. 1 Christian Accounting program in TN, #2 program in the Nation (Christian Universities Online) - 2017; No. 2 Bachelor's in Human Resources Degree program in TN and #26 in the Nation (College Choice) - 2016 and 2018; No. 1 in Tennessee and No. 36 in the Nation International Business Degree (College Choice) - 2017; and Top 50 marketing program in the Nation (College Choice) - 2016.
The College of Business offers a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and undergraduate degrees in accounting, finance, management and marketing. Programs offered through the Pfeffer Graduate School of Business include the Master of Business Administration, Master of Accountancy, Master of Health Care Administration (MHA) and Master of Management: Health Care.