Concord Student Life
In addition to its stellar academic programs, Concord University offers plenty of opportunities for students to grow while having fun! There are several student organizations & Greek organizations you can join, exciting activities you can participate in, and workshops aimed to help your academic & professional development.
Featured Stories
Assistant Professor of English / Director of Veteran Services
George joined the Navy at age 17, and then worked for British Aerospace Engineering, where he helped design, install and repair advanced electronic systems on US Navy Ships. Later, he moved his family to Wilmington, NC, where he started his own business focusing on electronic and electrical systems for private yachts. Once his three daughters were grown, he and his wife sold everything and hit the road, eventually settling in Bluefield, WV. Dr. Williams attended Concord University and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy. He and his wife then moved to Scotland, where he earned a Master of Letters (MLitt) in English Literary Studies at the University of Aberdeen. They spent nearly a decade there before returning to West Virginia in 2018 and began working at Concord as an adjunct professor, and finished his PhD from the University of Dundee. He was soon hired as an Assistant Professor of English and the CU Veterans Advocate. When asked about his most memorable experience, he relates, “I was presenting at an international conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, discussing how German author Goethe influenced Sir Walter Scott. After my presentation, my PhD advisor pulled me aside to inform me that I had been mispronouncing Goethe’s name throughout my talk. Embarrassed by my mistake in front of an international audience, I now use this experience as a teaching moment for my students.”
Dr. George Williams '11
Assistant Professor of English / Director of Veteran Services
Josie Crawford '24
Biology Major with Biomedical Sciences Emphasis
Kelsey Walls '18
Oceana, WV
Dr. Thomas McKenna
Professor of Philosophy and History
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.
