Three University of Lynchburg faculty members have been named to endowed professorships, recognizing their contributions to teaching, scholarship, and the University community.
Dr. Eric Kyper, professor of business and economics, and Dr. Michael Schnur, assistant professor of economics, each have been named a Douglas D. Drysdale Professor of Business and Economics.
Dr. Gerald Prante, department chair of accounting, business, economics, and marketing and associate professor of business and economics, has been named the Donaldson Brown Distinguished Professor in Business Finance.
“These endowed professorships recognize faculty members who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to excellence in their disciplines and to the education of our students,” said Dr. Timothy Schauer, interim dean of the School of Professional and Applied Sciences. “Each of these professors make a profound impact on the University. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, Dr. Prante contributes his statistics expertise to various reports for institutional effectiveness and enrollment management and retention committees.”
People are also reading…
“Dr. Schnur serves as the advisor for the Gillian S. Stoettner Student-Managed Investment Fund and is our job placement coordinator, and Dr. Kyper has been moving our AI-integrated pedagogy efforts forward.”
Endowed professorships provide faculty with additional support for their academic work, which may include research, professional development, travel, and other scholarly activities. The appointments are for three years.
The Donaldson Brown Distinguished Professorship was established in 1979 by Keene Brown, a former Lynchburg College trustee, whose father, Frank Donaldson Brown, was a prominent business executive and a 1902 graduate of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Virginia Tech.
The inaugural Douglas D. Drysdale Professorships honor Douglas D. Drysdale ’45, who attended Lynchburg but eventually earned his degree at the University of Virginia. Drysdale also served on the board of trustees from 2008 to 2015. Drysdale’s professional and civic contributions reflected a lifelong commitment to education and the Lynchburg community.
“It’s an honor to be recognized in this way,” Schnur said. “Teaching here for the past 31 years and getting to know students as the faculty advisor of the Student-Managed Investment Fund is already a huge pleasure, but this encourages me to continue research in my field and share my passion with students.”
