Ned Cohen, a Coastal Carolina University business professor, has been named director of Coastals prestigious Wall Fellows program.

Conceived in 1995 by the late E. Craig Wall Jr., a prominent South Carolina businessman and CCU supporter, the Wall Fellows program is designed to prepare top students for high-level careers in major U.S. and international corporations and organizations.

Cohen, who joined Coastal in 2004, is also director of the Wall Center for Excellence, an innovative program that helps students make the transition from university life to the working world. He graduated from Rockford College with a triple major in education, history and speech. Prior to joining Coastal, he worked as the senior vice president of human resources for organizational leadership and development at Citigroup Global Operations and Technology.

Students are chosen for the Wall Fellows program through a rigorous application process in the second semester of their sophomore year. The two-year program includes a three-credit-hour-per-semester course that covers specific nontraditional areas including interpersonal and communications skills, ethics, personal health and appearance, business and social etiquette, foreign languages and cultural skills. The course prepares the students for the highlight of the program: a series of internships and international experiences during their senior year.

Since the program was initiated, Wall Fellows have had internships at major companies in New York, Atlanta, London, Barcelona, Mainz (Germany), Brussels, and Santiago, as well as other metropolitan cities. Many graduates of the program have earned leadership positions throughout the United States and abroad.