Howard Dayton Visits Asbury Business School

September 14, 2023

On September 14, Howard Dayton visited campus to share words of encouragement to business students in the Walt and Rowena Shaw Collaborative Learning Center (Shaw CLC). The Asbury University Dayton School of Business (DSB) will celebrate 10 years of training leaders to be the best for the world in the spring of 2024.

“Throughout my life and career, I have learned one important thing: God is surprising, and God is good,” Dayton said.

Dayton graduated from Cornell University, served as a naval officer, and developed a successful career in the restaurant business and commercial real estate development. He recognized that his early career goal was to “make as much money as possible as soon as possible.” After a business partner challenged him to study the Bible to discover what God teaches about handling money, Dayton’s life changed. Read more of his story: https://www.asbury.edu/academics/schools/business/howard-dayton/.

In 2014, Asbury University dedicated the School of Business given Dayton’s and his late wife Beverly’s “service and sacrifice.” Dr. Alesha Graves serves as the school’s dean and associate professor of Accounting.

“In my eight years here so far, I have seen our programs grow,” Graves said. “Faculty continually review courses and programs so that they meet the needs of a changing marketplace.”

A recent addition to the DSB includes the Center for Professional Selling, which provides a formal avenue for sales education in the DSB. Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. George Allen directs this program which utilizes the state-of-the-art training suite in the Shaw CLC.

“The Sales Role Play rooms allow students to develop their sales skills in offices that look like the kinds of offices in which they’ll be selling in their careers someday,” said Allen. “The cameras and recording system allow students and me as their professor to review their role play performance so they can further improve their skills.”

The DSB added the Mentor & Internship Program in January to connect DSB students with mentors and internship opportunities. Alex Walters ’19 serves as the Mentor & Internship Program Coordinator.

“It is important to have connections and to build a strong network,” Walters said. “For example, an accounting major could meet with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who not only thrives in the field but also loves Christ. Building a network takes undergraduate students to the next level by the time they graduate with meaningful relationships and internships.”

The DSB also added a new Master of Science (M.S.) in Accounting degree program during the 2023 spring semester.     

“The M.S. in Accounting degree program provides students with a streamlined approach to achieve the required 150 credit hours to become a CPA in Kentucky,” Graves said. “The curriculum is designed to assist students to begin preparing to take the CPA exam, to work effectively in public accounting or in industry, and to be witnesses for Christ in business.”

The MBA programs continue to provide a compassionate and supportive environment to explore imaginative solutions that help students shape the world of tomorrow. With both on-campus and 100% online options and specializations in career-focused areas, Asbury’s MBA programs equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to excel in leadership roles across diverse industries.

“With a personalized approach to learning, our MBA focuses on fostering critical thinking, innovation, and ethical decision-making,” said MBA Director Mike Ross. “All DSB MBA faculty have extensive ‘real-world’ experience in their fields of discipline – they know how to ‘walk the walk and talk the talk.’”

The DSB offers five majors (accounting, business administration, finance, marketing, and sport management), five minors (accounting, business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and sport management), the MBA program, the M.S. in Accounting program, and the Online Business Management program. Learn more: https://www.asbury.edu/academics/departments/business/.

Students accepted into the Asbury +1 MBA and +1 M.S. in Accounting programs can take graduate-level courses during their undergraduate programs with nine graduate credit hours being included within the traditional undergraduate tuition. Learn more: https://www.asbury.edu/academics/degrees/graduate/mba/asburyplus1/.