Robert L. Wyatt, dean of Drury University's Breech School of Business Administration, will leave Drury this summer to become the 16th president of Coker College, an independent liberal arts school in Hartsville, S.C. Wyatt has headed up the Breech School since 2001 but began teaching at the school in 1996. Under his direction, the school launched the Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship, received reaffirmed accreditation by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools, started a Students in Free Enterprise program and revised its curriculum to focus on international study and internships. Charles Taylor, Drury vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, said an interim director for the Breech School would be named soon. A national search for a permanent director will begin during the 2009-10 school year, with a director in place for the 2010-11 year.
On/Off Ramp
As one Springfieldian exits the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, another is merging into the group. Joe Carmichael, president and manager of Springfield law firm Carmichael & Neal PC, was named to the commission days after Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson ended his term, which included stints as chairman and vice-chairman. Carmichael's appointment by Gov. Jay Nixon ends March 8, 2015. The six-member bipartisan commission governs MoDOT, which employs more than 6,200 and has a $2 billion annual budget. Another southwest Missouri member is Rudy Farber, of Neosho.
Harvard Grad to OTC
Dawn Busick - previously director of the Missouri Division of Workforce Development - has been hired to head up Ozarks Technical Community College's Center for Workforce Development. Busick starts March 30 as executive director of the center. She replaces Phil Davis, who retired. Busick spent the last three years with the state Workforce Development division, and she previously served as a contract consultant and administrator with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. She is a graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the University of Illinois. Area professionals and business owners can meet Busick at a reception, scheduled for 3:30-5 p.m. April 9 at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, 202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway.
Fiscal Justice
The city of Springfield is in line for more than $500,000 in federal economic stimulus funds for law enforcement. County and municipal law enforcement agencies in Missouri will receive approximately $15 million in U.S. Department of Justice grant funds under the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of the congressional leaders working on the bill. The state will receive another $25 million. Other top awards locally include: Greene County, $130,169; Stone County, $118,754; Christian County, $81,100; Branson, $60,484; Taney County, $51,795; and Bolivar, $29,476. St. Louis will receive the largest sum, $4.2 million, followed by Kansas City's $3.6 million.[[In-content Ad]]
