Bio: William Randolph Folks, Jr., is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Business in the Sonoco International Business Department, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. He also serves as Executive Director of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), Director of the Undergraduate International Business Major and Director of the Faculty Development in International Business program.
Professor Folks, a native of Lancaster, South Carolina, received his A.B. cum laude in General Studies (Mathematics) from Harvard in 1966, and his D.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1970.
Professor Folks joined the University of South Carolina faculty in 1969, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1972, and to full Professor in 1976. His primary area of teaching and research is international finance, and he is the author of over forty research papers, published in journals such as Management Science, Financial Management, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of International Business Studies, Foreign Language Annals, and the Columbia Journal of World Business. Professor Folks has served as a Visiting Professor at Universite Catholique de Louvain (BELGIUM), the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration (FINLAND), and Xiamen University (People’s Republic of CHINA), has taught in numerous executive education and executive MBA programs in the United States, Brazil, Finland, and Abu Dhabi, and served for nineteen years as a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.
From 1976 to 1985, Professor Folks served as the first Department Chair of International Business, responsible for the development and growth of the nationally prominent academic programs in International Business at the University of South Carolina. Under his leadership the Masters of International Business Studies (MIBS) program became recognized as the leading graduate program in International Business in the world. In 1990, Professor Folks was appointed Director of the Center for International Business Education and Research, one of 31 national resource centers funded by the U. S. Department of Education. He served as the first President of the Association for International Business Education and Research (AIBER), the association of CIBER schools. He has twice served on the American Council of Education Task Force on the Reauthorization of Title VI and served on the AACSB Task Force on the National Security Education Program. In 1994-1997, he served on the Council of Advisors to the National Security Education Program, Department of Defense. He has served as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE). He has served as a consultant on international program development for a number of business schools.
Professor Folks is married to the former Kathleen Golden Mitchell of Greenville SC. They have two grown sons, Will and Rick, and two grandsons, Caleb and Landon. He has served as a deacon and as an elder in First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, has chaired the Board of Deacons and numerous committees, including the Facilities Expansion Committee, and is currently Chair of the Administration Committee. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Erskine College, and serves on the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board. He is a member and past President of the Rotary Club of Five Points and a member and past President of the Columbia Torch Club.
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William Randolph Folks, Jr. is an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of International Business as the recipient of the 2008 AIB Fellows International Educator of the Year Award.
Last Updated: June 2008