The Florida State University Herbert Wertheim College of Business honored two former faculty members with lasting recognition for their decades of dedication to their students, disciplines and colleagues.
The college’s inductions on Tuesday evening of Richard Corbett and William Jordan into its Charles A. Rovetta Faculty Hall of Fame coincided with its annual faculty and staff awards presentations. Sixteen faculty and staff members received recognition for their work helping the college to fulfill its mission of producing the next generation of world-class business leaders.
The ceremony took place in the Brian and Renee Murphy Forum of the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence, marking the first large-scale event led by the college at the spectacular new building since its Jan. 6 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Michael D. Hartline, dean of the Wertheim College, said the annual event gives the college the opportunity “to celebrate the outstanding work and achievements of each other and the groundbreaking accomplishments of those who came before us.”
Corbett and Jordan joined 23 previous inductees in the Rovetta Faculty Hall of Fame, named in honor of the college’s second dean.
“They set themselves apart through their enduring dedication to the college, their fields and, most of all, their students,” Hartline said. “They helped give us our global distinction, and tonight we give them forever fame.”
Richard Corbett
Corbett, who retired in 2012 after more than two decades at FSU, distinguished himself as a leading researcher and professor in risk management and insurance at the university and received wide recognition for his contributions to the field and his impact on statewide and national insurance education and policy.
His service to the industry included 10 years on the Associate in Risk Management Advisory Committee for the Insurance Institute of America, and he’s a past president of the Southern Risk and Insurance Association. In 1994, he was named Insurance Educator of the Year by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.
Former students remember him as a mentor, role model and friend who made a difference in their lives and academic and professional careers. They recall him repeatedly saying: “Do good. It will come back to you in unexpected ways. There is no such thing as an unimportant act of kindness.”
In his acceptance speech, Corbett said: “It doesn’t cost you anything to be nice or to be kind or to be understanding.”
“And sometimes,” he added, referring to students, “all they really want you to do is to listen to them.”
Corbett emphasized “critical factors” that led to a fulfilling career, including the colleagues he worked with and the students he taught.
“The great charm of what we do as faculty members is the things that (students) do once they leave us,” Corbett said. “I’ve been quite fortunate to have students who have made a point to stay in touch.”
William Jordan
Jordan, who served on FSU’s accounting faculty from 1974 to 1998, made his mark as a teacher, researcher and national expert on U.S. taxation who advised state and federal government agencies on tax, finance and securities, and shaped the careers of thousands of FSU accounting students.
Former students say Jordan transformed their understanding of complex tax laws through practical, real-world applications.
He received numerous awards, including the Alpha Kappa Psi Teaching Award and the FSU Teaching and Advising Award. He twice won the Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Professor Award, and perhaps most notably, he received the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award for his spectacular performance on the CPA Exam.
Famously to his students and colleagues, Jordan sat for the CPA Exam because he considered it important to earn the same credential his students were pursuing — and he earned the second-highest score in the state and the seventh-highest in the nation.
In his acceptance speech, Jordan exhibited the humor for which he became known, saying: “This award has really humbled me. My wife, of course, says that she’d be more impressed if I learned how to dance.”
He said his students gave him “the important and worthwhile thrill of influencing future generations.”
His position at FSU “permitted me to fulfill a lifelong ambition, and that was to succeed in influencing youngsters,” Jordan said.
“They taught me a lot,” he added, “and I was honored to have them teach me.”
Faculty and Staff Awards
The Wertheim College also recognized excellence among faculty and staff members during its annual awards ceremony. The following faculty and staff members were recognized:
Staff Core Values Awards
David Pitts, Technical Support Coordinator, IT
Mark Thorp, Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration, Office of the Dean
Shannon Young, Program Manager, FSU Sales Institute
Faculty Core Values Awards
Brad Karl, Chair, and State Farm Professor of Risk Management and Insurance, Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate & Legal Studies
Angie Kovarik, Assistant Lecturer, Dr. Persis E. Rockwood School of Marketing
Kelsey Syvrud, Associate Lecturer, Alternative Investments & Wealth Management Program Director and Gene Taylor/Bank of America Banking & Financial Studies Center Director, Department of Finance
Staff Awards
MVP: Andrea White, Assistant to the Dean and Senior Administrative Specialist, Office of the Dean
Esprit de Corps Award: Yusimi Sayus, Course Manager, Department of Accounting
Emerging Leader Award: Emily Balke, Student Engagement Coordinator, Strategic Engagement
Extra Mile Award: Cynthia Kaman, Assistant Director, Finance & Human Resources
Ingenuity Award: William Hogan, Business Analyst, Office of the Dean
Charles Hardwick Outstanding Teaching Awards
Undergraduate Teaching Award, Tenure-Track Faculty: Miles Romney, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting
Undergraduate Teaching Award, Specialized Faculty: Dalisha Herring, Associate Lecturer, Department of Finance
Graduate Teaching Award: Daniel Broxterman, Kenneth Bacheller Associate Professor of Real Estate, Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate & Legal Studies
Research Awards
Junior Faculty: Ilias Filippou, Assistant Professor and Dean’s Emerging Scholar, Department of Finance
Senior Faculty: Spencer Pierce, Jim Moran Associate Professor of Business Administration, Department of Accounting
For more than a decade, the Wertheim College has recognized and honored faculty and staff excellence as a key pillar in the college’s “path to preeminence,” as Dean Hartline calls it. Says Hartline, “The preeminence of the college is simply not possible without our people – the faculty, staff and students that are the heart and soul of everything we do.”