Phi Beta Lambda Wins 15 National Awards at Conference
JONESBORO – Students representing the Phi Beta Lambda chapter at Arkansas State University won 15 awards at the 2020 PBL National Leadership Experience and Competition. The awards were made during a virtual ceremony after the coronavirus impacted the conference originally scheduled in Salt Lake City.
The 15 awards are the most by any college or university this year. A-State edged out the University of Nebraska-Lincoln which had 12 awards.
The event also marks the fourth year in a row that Arkansas State has won the most national awards and the third consecutive year that A-State has the largest chapter in the country.
“The advisers are thrilled with how the students performed this year with it being completely online,” said Dr. Philip Tew, A-State chapter adviser and associate professor of finance. “The winners include students from five different colleges on campus and range from first-year students to graduate students. We are hoping more will join us in the fall and will be able to attend next summer’s national competition in Anaheim, Calif.”
The finishers include:
First Place: Largest Chapter in the Nation; Organizational Behavior and Leadership – Alex Young of Jonesboro; Programming Concepts – Quynh Ho of Danang, Vietnam; Financial Services – Rachel Washam of Jonesboro.
Second Place: Parliamentary Procedure – Brenna Cannon of Mountain Home, Dustin Ogden of Manila, Hailey Hawkins of Searcy, Kelsie Rohr of Mountain Home, and Tyrell Andrews of Marked Tree; Management Analysis and Decision Making — Bailey Dunn of Marked Tree and Alex Young of Jonesboro.
Fifth Place: Business Ethics – Bailey Dunn of Marked Tree, Hailey Hawkins of Searcy, and Ashley Watson of Paragould.
Sixth Place: Information Management – Ahad Sanjrani of Dallas, Texas; Community Service Project – Dustin Ogden of Manila.
Seventh Place: Management Analysis and Decision Making – Ahad Sanjrani of Dallas, Texas, and Abbigail Hicks of Jonesboro; and Statistical Analysis — Nauman Jiwani of Jonesboro.
Eighth Place: Business Law – Julia Hudspeth of Lepanto, Tyrell Andrews of Marked Tree, and Kristina Garlington of Bryant.
Ninth Place: Accounting Analysis and Decision Making – Armaan Dharani of Jonesboro; Hospitality Management – Meghan Cantara of Jonesboro.
Tenth Place: Management Concepts – Abbigail Hicks of Jonesboro.
These participating students earned the right to compete in the national events after advancing from the state competition in April.
Advisers for the A-State Phi Beta Lambda chapter include Dr. Philip Tew, associate professor of finance; Sheena Gammon, instructor in business administration; Dr. Patricia Robertson, professor of business law and chair of the Department of Economics and Finance; and Kerry Tew, first-year student support coordinator for the Neil Griffin College of Business.
PBL is the collegiate division of Future Business Leaders of America, whose goal is to develop leadership, communication and team skills. It is also an organization for students to meet and network with others at the local, state or national levels. The PBL academic competitions provide students with what it takes to be successful by covering technology, public speaking, business, finance and management.
