Birmingham Rotaract

 Please join us for our June 2nd luncheon with Dr. Beck Taylor

The luncheon will begin promptly at noon at The Harbert Center. 

Dr. Beck A. Taylor is dean and professor of economics for the Brock School of Business at Samford University.  He joined Samford in 2005 after serving as associate dean for research and faculty development and the W.H. Smith Professor of Economics for the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.

After earning his undergraduate degree from Baylor, cum laude, with majors in economics and finance, Taylor was employed as an analyst for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Houston, TX.  He went on to earn the M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.  After returning to the faculty at Baylor, Taylor received the Young Researcher Award from the Hankamer School of Business in 2000 and was subsequently named the first holder of the W.H. Smith Professorship in Economics.  In 2002, he was appointed as a visiting scholar by Harvard University and spent one year in residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education pursuing research interests.   In 2005, Taylor was named a Baylor University Outstanding Professor.

As dean of Samford’s Brock School of Business, Taylor has led the rapid transformation of the forty-four year old business school into a leader in business education, spearheaded by a commitment from Harry B. Brock, Jr., founder of Compass Bank, to build a $100 million endowment for the school.  In addition to his fundraising efforts, which have also seen the establishment of new endowed centers, scholarships, and professorships, Taylor has led the Brock School to establish eight new academic programs, as well as the school’s new honors program.  Additionally, the Brock School’s graduate and executive education programs were redesigned to serve the needs of modern executives.  In an effort to embrace the business community and to build bridges for students and professionals alike, Taylor established the Samford Business Network, with chapters in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Nashville, as well as established a new 45-member advisory board for the school that consists of the region’s top business leaders. 

As a scholar, Taylor has published more than two dozen studies in economics journals such as Review of Economics and Statistics; Journal of Labor Economics; Journal of Human Resources; and Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking.  Illustrating his diverse research interests, Taylor has also published research in public health (American Journal of Public Health) and child developmental psychology (Child Development).  His research has been featured in testimony given before the U.S. Congress and the California State Assembly, as well as mentioned in publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, and Chief Executive Magazine.  In 2002, Taylor presented research findings concerning retail gasoline pricing before the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC.  His research has also been mentioned by organizations as diverse as the National Center for Children and Poverty at Columbia University, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Center for the Advancement of Health, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and the Heritage Foundation.  Taylor is a popular speaker and commentator, and he appears frequently in print media and on television and radio.

Taylor is a member of numerous professional and academic organizations including the American Economic Association, Beta Gamma Sigma, Omicron Delta Epsilon, Beta Alpha Psi, Association of Christian Economists, and the Southern Business Administration Association.  Additionally, he served for six years on the editorial board of the Atlantic Economic Journal.  He serves on the board of directors for several professional organizations, including Beta Gamma Sigma, the Alabama Council for Economic Education, the Association of Christian Economists, and the Business Council of Alabama.

Taylor has served as a consultant for organizations such as Arco, Citgo, ABB Vetco Gray, and the NCAA.  Additionally, he is affiliated with two consulting firms, Finance and Resource Management Consultants (Bellingham, WA) and AgriFocus, Inc. (Monument, CO), and he currently consults with more than 40 companies.  Taylor serves as a director for the NASDAQ-listed Goldleaf Financial Solutions, Inc. (Norcross, GA), and he also serves on the board of McPherson Oil Company, a private fuel and oil distribution company in Birmingham.  He is a trustee of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and serves as chairman of the Chamber’s Council of Economic Advisors, and he is a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham.  In 2006, Taylor was named as one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40″ by the Birmingham Business Journal, and in 2009, he was named as among the 100 people to know in Birmingham by the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Taylor lives in the Birmingham area with his wife, Julie, and his children, Zachary, Lauren, and Chloe.  They are members of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, where he teaches an adult Sunday school class and serves as a director of the church’s foundation.