Six professors in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University have been named to professorships. The Wall College has four privately endowed professorships that are designed to advance the work of top faculty in teaching, scholarship and service.

The following professorships have been awarded for 2007-2008:

William J. Baxley Jr. Applied Business Professorship - Robert B. Burney, professor of finance, has been awarded the William J. Baxley Jr. Professorship. Burney earned a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina and joined the Wall College in 1993. He has published in a number of scholarly journals and made numerous presentations, and he serves on the board of the Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union. The Baxley Applied Business Professorship was created in 1999 by Coastal alumnus Larry Coats and his wife Suzanne Byrd Coats to honor longtime CCU business professor and administrator Col. William J. Baxley Jr.

James P. and Elizabeth R. Blanton Professorship - Barbara Ritter, assistant professor of management, has been awarded the James P. and Elizabeth R. Blanton Endowed Professorship. Ritter earned a Ph.D. from the University of Akron and joined the Wall College in 2004. Her scholarly specialties are in organizational leadership and justice and in business ethics. She is the faculty adviser for the CCU chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma. The professorship was established in 2004 in honor of the late Coastal founder James P. Blanton by his family. Blanton, of Loris, was a businessman, conservationist, legislator and lifelong champion of education.

Marshall D. Butler Distinguished Professorship in Finance - Marvin Keene, assistant professor of finance, has been awarded the Marshall D. Butler Distinguished Professorship of Finance. Keene earned a Ph.D. from Florida State University and joined the Wall College in 2004. He has been published in the Journal of Financial Research, and he serves as the faculty adviser for the CCU chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honor society for accounting and finance students. The professorship was established last year by AVX Corporation to honor Butler, who was CEO and chairman of the company from 1974 to 1993. Butler is credited with leading AVX to its dominant position in the worldwide production and sales of ceramic capacitors. He championed the use of market research and the expansion of operations to Europe and Asia.

Colonel Lindsey H. Vereen Endowed Professorship - Three CCU professors have been awarded Vereen Endowed Professorships for the coming year. The professorship was established in 2000 by Vivian Vereen in the name of her late husband, who was a member of the Coastal business faculty from 1966 to 1977. A graduate of the Citadel, Col. Vereen was a decorated World War II veteran who earned a master's degree in industrial management from the University of Pittsburgh. The three professors are:

- Robert D. Nale, professor of management, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and joined the faculty of the Wall College in 1985. He is the managing editor of the Coastal Business Journal and has served the Wall College in the roles of assistant dean, associate dean, interim dean and department chair.

- John Marcis, professor of economics, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia and joined the Wall College faculty in 1999. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Marcis' service to the university includes membership on numerous committees and the development and implementation of the economics major and minor.

- Dennis Rauch, professor of marketing, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and joined the Wall College faculty in 1987. In addition to his academic contributions in teaching, research and service, he has served the Wall College in the roles of assistant dean and department chair.