About Us

We embrace integrity as the fundamental basis for trust, leadership, and organizational culture.

We are dedicated to encouraging intellectual curiosity, advancing knowledge, and promoting innovation.

We have a passion for excellence in business, research and education.

We promote ethically principled and sustainable global practices that foster economic and social value.

1970

• UNC Charlotte creates the College of Business Administration with the departments of Accounting, Business Administration and Economics. Allan V. Palmer is appointed dean. The college has eight faculty members. 
• UNC Charlotte begins offering the first graduate program for working business professionals in the Charlotte region, the Master of Management (later Master of Business Administration). 

1978

• Richard Neel is appointed dean, replacing Allan V. Palmer. Neel will remain dean until 1993.

1981

• The North Carolina Economic Forecast launches with John Connaughton as director. 

1982

• The Friday Building, named for UNC System President William Friday and his wife, Ida, is dedicated as the College’s home.

1983

• The Eta Alpha Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals, is established. 

1984

• The College becomes the first business school in the region to receive accreditation from AACSB International, the leading accrediting agency for business and accounting programs.

1990

• The first business advisory council is established with Thomas M. Belk as chair. 
• The College is renamed the Belk College of Business Administration in honor of the William Henry Belk family and the Belk organization. 
• The Master in Science in Economics launches.

1993

Edward Mazze, who previously served as dean of the school of business at Temple University, is appointed Belk College dean. He will remain dean until 1998.

1995

• The Belk College becomes the first college or university to provide business courses in Uptown Charlotte with the opening of UNC Charlotte’s first Uptown campus, located in the Cityfair Center. 
• To accommodate growth at the College, a third floor is constructed to the Friday Building along with distinctive columns. The project is funded through $3 million from a state bond referendum approved by voters in 1993. 

1999

• Childress Klein donates $1 million to support faculty development at the College.

2000

• Claude Lilly becomes dean at the College celebrates its 30th anniversary. Lilly will remain dean until 2007. 

2003

• The Belk Foundation donates $1.5 million to the Belk College to support the expansion of the college’s international programs.

2005

• The Center for Real Estate launches; Belk College celebrates its 35th anniversary.
• College officially shortens its name to the Belk College of Business.

2006

• The Belk College launches its first doctoral program, Ph.D. in Business Administration.
• A Dual MBA program with Global Business certificate begins with partner Graduate School of Business Administration and Leadership (EGADE) at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico.

2007

• Business Week names UNC Charlotte one of the 10 most innovative colleges and universities in the nation. 

2008

• Joseph Mazzola, a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, is appointed dean. Mazzola will serve until 2011. The College has more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students. 
• A committee of industry leaders raises $4.4 million to expand research and academic programs for the Center for Real Estate. 

2010

• Barings becomes a sponsor for the UNC Charlotte Economic Forecast 

2011

• Steven Ott, who first joined the Belk College in 1999 as the John Crosland Sr. Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and Development, is appointed dean. Ott will serve as dean until 2019. 
• The UNC Charlotte Center City, the only UNC System classroom building conceived and designed specifically to serve the business, organizations and people of an urban center, opens. The building houses all Belk College graduate programs.
• The Belk College launches the Master of Science in Real Estate program.

2013

• The Belk family continues its support of the college by donating $5 million, the largest gift in college’s history. The donation creates a Belk Scholars Program for undergraduate students, and also supports faculty research and teaching.

2014

• The Master of Science in Data Science and Analytics, a collaboration between the Belk College and the College of Computing and Informatics, launches.
• The Belk College launches the Executive Education program.
• Belk College alumnus Kyle White ‘13 receives the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony for this service in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

2015

• Belk College alumnus Robert Niblock, CEO of Lowe’s Companies Inc., donates $2.5 million to support the student center and professional development at the College. The gift creates the Niblock Student Center, a one-stop source for students based at the Friday Building.
• The Center for Real Estate is renamed in recognition of a $2.5 million gift from real estate company Childress Klein. 
• The Women in Business initiative launches. 

2016

• The MBA program is named a tier 1 global program by CEO Magazine.
• Professor Emeritus Thomas C. Turner, who helped establish the Department of Accounting, donates $2.5 million to UNC Charlotte. The department becomes the Turner School of Accountancy in his honor. 
• U.S. News & World Report researchers find that UNC Charlotte is one of only eight U.S. universities to have multiple alumni who serve as CEOs of Fortune 100 companies – Robert Niblock ‘85, CEO of Lowe’s Companies, and Joseph Swedish ‘72, CEO of Anthem.

2017

• The Belk College reports enrollment of more than 4,700, an increase of 26% over 2012. 
• The Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) program launches, becoming the only AACSB Accredited program of its kind in the Carolinas.

2018

• The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) LYNX Blue Line Extension enables a new level of connectivity with Uptown Charlotte. 
• The Belk College launches Entrepreneurial Decisions, a class open to all UNC Charlotte undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a public speaker series. 
• Madison Hartness ‘17 becomes the Belk College’s 30,000th graduate.

2019

• First cohort for the M.S. Management, the first program of its kind in the UNC System. 

2020

• Jennifer Troyer, who has served in leadership roles at UNC Charlotte for 20 years, is named the Belk College’s seventh dean; the college celebrates its 50th anniversary.  

2021

• The college welcomed the first cohort of Niblock Scholars, through a scholarship program established with a $2.5 million gift from Belk College alumni Robert and Melanie Niblock.
• The college was the No. 7 largest producer of finance degrees for African American students in the nation, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s Diverse 100 rankings.
• After 47 years of teaching accounting and tax law and impacting thousands of lives at UNC Charlotte, Professor of Accounting Howard Godfrey retired.

2022

• The college launched CONNECT, a leadership development summit for Belk College Black and Latinx students, alumni and Charlotte professionals.
• Belk College and its Turner School of Accountancy both earned five-year accreditation renewals from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
• In fall 2022, the college launched a new online MBA with two technology concentrations and a new interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate in entrepreneurship.
• The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation formed, integrating the work of Ventureprise, the Small Business and Technology Development Center and the undergraduate and graduate certificates in entrepreneurship.
• The Master of Science in Real Estate program marked the 10th anniversary of its inaugural graduating class.
• To honor the impact of former Belk College of Business Dean Steven Ott, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and corporate partners contributed to establish a new endowed scholarship.

2023

• Dean Jennifer Troyer was appointed interim provost, and later was named to the permanent role. Dolly King stepped in as interim dean, and a search for a permanent dean began.
• The Center for Leadership Science formed, focused on building the next generation of inclusive leaders.
• Belk College alumna and accomplished business leader Susan Dodson DeVore ’81 contributed a $1 million gift to establish a women’s leadership program in the Center for Leadership Science.
• Finance ranked No. 5 and marketing No. 10 nationally in awarding undergraduate degrees to African American students, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education’s Diverse 100 list. The Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) ranked No. 2 for overall minorities and No. 4 for African Americans awarded degrees.