Interim Vice President and Academic Dean Kendra Boggess

"Dr. Boggess was appointed Interim Vice President and Academic Dean in August 2011. She has served as an Associate Dean since fall 2009. Since coming to Concord in 1984, her academic experience has consisted of teaching undergraduate business courses in Concord’s Division of Business, primarily in Business Communications and software applications courses. Her prior administrative experience resulted from service as the Division’s Chair from 1996-2009, and from more than 25 years work in the private sector. She gained additional administrative experience when elected to serve as Faculty President at Concord University in 2008 and 2009.

Dr. Boggess holds an Associate of Arts degree from St. Petersburg Junior College in Florida, a B.S. degree in Business Education from the University of Florida in Gainesville, a Masters of Science degree in Vocational Technical Education from Virginia Tech (VT), and a Ph.D. in Business Education with a cognate in Business Management from Virginia Tech University. Her dissertation topic was “Ethical Issues in Business Communication: A Comparative Study of the Perceptions of Japanese and US Students. Her research interests are in culture’s impact upon business ethics and strategies of effective business communication. While at VT, she served as a Graduate Research Assistant with responsibilities for the collaborative writing of V-TECs catalogs and curriculum guides. She has served as a reviewer for the Career & Technical Research Association journal for several years.

Throughout her career, Dr. Boggess has served on numerous national, statewide, institutional, and divisional committees and has been recognized for her leadership. She was elected as President of the West Virginia Business Education Association and served as a member of West Virginia University’s Statewide Business Plan Competition Oversight Committee. She was recently recognized by the President of the Career and Technical Education Research Association (CATER) for her service as the organization’s National Membership Director and National Secretary. Dr. Boggess was also selected as the West Virginia Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the West Virginia Business Education Association.

Dr. Boggess is active in the local business community and is a Charter Member of the Board of Directors of the Charles Mathena III Foundation serving the Chuck Mathena III Performing Arts Center in Mercer County, WV.

She and her husband, Ted, an architect, make their home in Princeton, WV, have been married 32 years, have 3 sons and daughters-in-law, and 6 grandchildren.

Associate Dean George Towers

Dr. Towers was appointed Interim Associate Dean in fall 2009. He has been a geography professor at Concord since 1992. Prior to coming to Concord, Dr. Towers taught at Southwest Missouri State University, and El Paso Community College. His prior administrative experience includes service as Chairman of Concord’s Division of Social Sciences.

In 1983, Dr. Towers graduated from Indiana University with bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and in Spanish. He then attended graduate school at the University of Arizona, receiving an M.A. in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Geography with a minor in Anthropology.

Dr. Towers teaches courses in human geography, cartography, and geographic information systems (GIS). He has developed Concord’s GIS curriculum which includes an Area of Emphasis in cartography and GIS. Regionally, Dr. Towers specializes in the geography of Appalachia and of Latin America. His work in the classroom has been recognized by the Concord University Student Government Association which awarded him the Joseph Friedl Award for outstanding teaching.

Dr. Towers’ scholarship includes research publications in a variety of fields, including GIS, political geography, historical geography, Appalachian studies, and U.S. – Mexico borderlands studies. He has long been active in several professional geography associations, serving on program committees and as a manuscript reviewer.

At Concord, Dr. Towers has chaired and served on a wide range of committees, prepared assessment reports for programs in geography and social studies teacher education, and sponsored student organizations.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons, Andrew and Ben.

Vice President and Academic Dean's Staff

Marsh Hall 200 • Campus Box Wall • Athens, WV 24712-1000 vpad@concord.edu • 1-304-384-5241