Gerald Boyles, professor of finance in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University, has been awarded the William J. Baxley Jr. Applied Business Professorship.

The holder of the professorship is selected according to his or her teaching ability, character, academic achievement and ability to relate "real world" experiences into the classroom.

Named in honor of William J. Baxley Jr., dean emeritus of the Wall College of Business, the professorship was established in 1999 through a gift by Coastal alumnus Larry Coats Jr. and his wife Suzanne Byrd Coats of Apex, N.C. It is the first professorship to be established in the Wall College of Business and Boyles is the first to hold the professorship.

Boyles, who joined the Coastal faculty in 1973, earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University. He earned an MBA and Ph.D. in finance from the University of South Carolina. He is also a chartered financial analyst.