Blue and Gold Blue and Gold Winter Edition 2020 | Page 18
w. paul cole, jr
school of business
Cole Business School inducts
Dr. Steve Bourne ‘74 and Jeff
Mullins ‘90 to Hall of Fame.
Bluefield State’s Cole School of Business
conducted its first Hall of Fame ceremony,
inducting two alumni who have gone on to
have successful careers and make a
difference in the lives of thousands of
others.
Dr. Glen “Steve” Bourne (Class of 1974) and
Jeff Mullins (Class of 1990) were honored as
the initial inductees into the Business School’s
Hall of Fame. Dean Phillip Imel
presided over the ceremony held at the
Pipestem Resort on December 5, 2019.
A Bourne Leader.
Steve Bourne received first his A.S. Degree in
Mining Engineering, then his B.S. in Business
Administration from Bluefield State. While
teaching at Bluefield High School, he earned
his M.B.A. from Radford University. He joined
Bluefield State’s School of Business faculty in
1978.
In 1987, Steve became “Dr. Bourne” when he
received his Ph.D. in Management from
Virginia Tech’s Pamplin School of Business.
His dissertation centered on labor
management relations in the coal industry.
Dr. Bourne remains widely known as one of
the nation’s foremost experts on labor
relations within the industry. He served
several years as a management consultant and
continues to work as an arbitrator regionally
and nationally.
Jeff Mullins (pictured left) and
Dr. Glen “Steve” Bourne (pictured right)
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BLUE AND GOLD
During his 41-year career at Bluefield State,
Dr. Bourne has distinguished himself as one
of the finest professors in the history of the
institution. He was one of three finalists for
the Faculty Merit Foundation’s West Virginia
“Professor of the Year.”
He served as Dean three separate times. He
has received multiple honors from both the
school and his peers. The Business School’s
most prestigious student scholarship is named
for him: The “Steve Bourne Most Outstanding
Business Student Award.”
His community service includes the Bluefield
Regional Medical Center Board of Directors
and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Winning On the Court,
And Off
Jeff Mullins was, by his
own admission, an
“average” student at
Bluefield State. He was
also hardworking in the
classroom and on the
basketball court.
The hard work on the
hardwood paid off first.
Twice he led Bluefield
State’s basketball team to
the WVIAC tournament
championship. The 1988
game is remembered as
perhaps the Big Blues’
finest. Although they lost
a heartbreaker, 92-91,
Jeff was picked for the
all-tournament team. He
also earned first team
all-conference honors
the following year.
Terry Brown’s message and philosophy at BSC
was hard work and dedication on the court
and in the classroom.”
His senior year, Jeff signed up for a class with
Dr. Bourne something he had avoided until
then. “I learned more in his classes and loved
his teaching style. I wish that I had taken his
courses sooner.”
“What you do with your
education is up to you”
- Jeff Mulllins ‘90, BSC Cole Business School,
Hall of Fame Inductee
In 1995 Jeff tested whether the lessons of hard
work and dedication learned at Bluefield State
would pay off in the business world. With a
little bit of his own money and a lot borrowed
from others, he took a leap and founded
Employers’ Innovative Network (EIN). It
provides a host of services to small business
companies including payroll processing and
payroll taxes, human resource issues,
regulatory compliance and more.
It was not an immediate success. It took six
months before EIN landed its first client. But
after three years Jeff knew that his business
model would succeed. Today, EIN has clients
in 20 states.
Looking back on what he’s achieved, Jeff
observed, “What you do with your education is
up to you. Just as in basketball, life and
business, you must work hard.”
Nominations for the second class of the School
of Business Hall of Fame inductees are being
accepted now.
Address email to Dean Imel at:
pimel@bluefieldstate.edu.
Asked how his
basketball experience at
Bluefield State shaped
his later business
success, Jeff said, [Coach]
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