Concord Academics
Concord University is divided into two colleges: The College of Professional and Liberal Studies and The College of Science, Mathematics, and Health. Both are full of rigorous academic programs, friendly and knowledgeable faculty members, and small class sizes.
Featured Stories
Assistant Professor of Business
Dr. Allison Bean is an assistant professor of business at Concord University. She began teaching at Concord in the Fall of 2022. Before joining Concord full-time, she was a project manager and earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Dr. Bean is a graduate of Mercer University’s School of Business. She earned her Executive MBA from Wesleyan College, where she was recognized with the “Distinguished Student” award and had the opportunity to study business operations in Chile and Argentina. She completed her doctoral research at Walden University on “The Strategies of Successful Project Managers Leading Virtual Teams.” Dr. Bean worked for several Fortune 100 companies and specialized in designing and improving processes. She was in the financial services and insurance industry for over 15 years, where she’s done everything ranging from supervising risk managers to developing technologies that identified fraud and identifying and solving gaps in compliance. She says of her time at Concord, “My most enlightening experience was the Spring of 2023 graduation. So many of my students expressed how much they learned from me and expressed gratefulness for caring about them. I didn’t realize I could make such a huge impact in such a short period of time.” Dr. Bean spends her free time serving in her community, playing sports, traveling, reading murder mystery books, and spending time with her husband, Dr. Michael Bean, and their two daughters, Michaela and Mickenzie.
Dr. Allison Bean
Assistant Professor of Business
Dr. Tracy Luff
Professor of Sociology & Director of Honors Program
Carolyn Worley '17
Director of Student Activities & Student Center
Dr. Thomas McKenna
Professor of Philosophy and History
Assistant Professor/Training Manager
Dr. Samantha Byrd began at Concord as an adjunct professor in the Masters of Social Work program in 2020, and was advanced to a full-time position in 2022. She received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Concord in 2016, and her Masters of Social Work degree in 2018, also from Concord. She went on to the University of Kentucky to earn her Doctor of Social Work degree in 2023. Dr. Byrd has practice experience in child and adolescent mental health, grant management, and foster parent training. She is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) interventions. In addition to teaching, Samantha volunteers in the counseling center at Concord, and provides community service in various ways. She founded and manages a foster closet and foster parent support group, and serves on the board of directors for Child Protect of Mercer County. She says of her most memorable experience at CU, “Since starting in academia, I have had the pleasure of working in different capacities with some of the professors and mentors I had during my time as a student at CU. It is incredible to see how everyone comes together behind the scenes to support students in various ways.”
