Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-07-01

Samford University business professor Dr. Betsy Holloway has been elected national president of the 300,000-member Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) leadership honor society.

Holloway was elected to the post by student and faculty representatives and alumni delegates at the ODK biennial convention in Houston, Texas, Friday, June 30. She has served the national ODK board of directors as the appointed academic member-at-large for the past four years.

Dwight Moody Beeson Chair of Business and associate professor and Hackney Family Research Fellow in Samford’s Brock School of Business, Holloway has been faculty secretary to the Samford ODK circle since 2003. Under her leadership, the Samford circle has received several national recognitions.

ODK recognizes student “leaders among leaders” with chapters, known as circles, at 306 college and university campus around the nation. Membership includes student and alumni members around the world.

Holloway will provide national leadership during an historic time for ODK, which will celebrate its centennial in 2014. This month, ODK will move its national headquarters and executive staff into a recently purchased historic building on the campus of its founding, Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Va. The staff has been most recently located on the campus of Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky.

“I am deeply honored to serve the Omicron Delta Kappa society as its next national president, especially at this time of historic importance,” said Holloway, who was involved in the recent purchase of the Washington and Lee property and will help plan centennial celebrations throughout the country.

“Omicron Delta Kappa plays a vital role by both celebrating and cultivating our collegiate student leaders across the country. I find great joy and inspiration in serving ODK. These are the leaders of tomorrow, and they continue to make me optimistic about the future,” said Holloway.

Holloway was inducted into the organization while an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Samford and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama.

Holloway will be the second national ODK president with Samford ties. The late Eldridge Roark, Jr., a 1955 Samford graduate, served as president during 1990-94, while on the faculty of State University of New York—Plattsburgh.

The two most recent national ODK presidents have been affiliated with the faculties of the University of Richmond and the College of William and Mary.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.