Beck A. Taylor is an American academic administrator and economist serving as the 19th

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

, a private

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

university in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. Taylor took office in July 2021, succeeding Andrew Westmoreland.

Education

Taylor earned his

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, studying

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

. After graduating, he attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, where he earned a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in economics.Beck A. Taylor, Ph.D
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Career

Taylor began his career as an analyst for Andersen Consulting (now

Accenture Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...

). He worked as a professor of economics at Baylor University and

. He served as the dean of Samford University's Brock School of Business from 2005 to 2010, as well as an associate dean of research and faculty development at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business. At Samford, Taylor created the Samford Business Network to connect university students with the business community of

. In 2010, Taylor was selected as the 18th President of

Whitworth University Whitworth University is a private, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate ...

, succeeding

William P. Robinson William P. "Bill" Robinson is an American academic administrator and communications scholar who served as the 17th President of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington from 1993 to 2010. Early life and education Robinson was born in 1949 in ...

. There, he focused on community development and institutional effectiveness, in addition to holding the university's largest fundraising campaign. Following an 11-year tenure at Whitworth, Taylor was elected as the 19th president of Samford University in March 2021, succeeding retiring president Andrew Westmoreland. He assumed office in July 2021. He was formally inaugurated on November 4, 2021, giving an address on love.

Personal life

Taylor and his wife, Julie Taylor, have three children. Their oldest son, Zachary, is a

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

-based musician recording under the name Dreamer Boy. They are members of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in

Homewood, Alabama Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham, located on the other side of Red Mountain (Birmingham), Red Mountain due south of the city ...

. His daughter, Lauren Taylor, is earning her

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

degree from the

University of Washington School of Medicine The University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) is a large public medical school in the northwest United States, located in Seattle and affiliated with the University of Washington. According to ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2022 Best Grad ...

Awards and honors

* Young Researcher Award from Hankamer School of Business in 2000 * First holder of the W.H. Smith Professorship in Economics in 2000 * Baylor University Outstanding Professor in 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Beck A Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Baylor University alumni Purdue University alumni Samford University people Whitworth University faculty