Being a businessman in the Charleston community and a graduate of The Citadel, William Moody Jr. has often looked to his Alma Mater as a recruiting pool for his accounting firm, Gamble, Givens & Moody, LLC. He was invited by Professor Cynthia Bolt to speak to the accounting club at the school, and has made other visits to speak with cadets about the accounting profession.
"Then Earl Walker came along and said 'We really want to take this thing (CSBA) to another notch,'" Moody said recently. "And when he said that and shared with me his vision, I thought, 'Wow, this is really impressive.'"
Moody agreed to serve on The Citadel School of Business Administration's Advisory Board, and since joining up, he said "it has been bigger than I had always thought it would be." He now serves as Vice Chairman.
Thus far, he said it has succeeded beyond his hopes on a variety of levels, including the Advisory Board itself. The group set "pretty big goals," Moody said, and since it started measuring its results, "it is way beyond where most of us thought it might be."
One aspect that Moody said he feels is particularly poignant is the concept of the leader of principle. He said this ideal is sorely missing in the modern business community, but is one The Citadel School of Business has "a very unique role in providing."
"When you sit around that table now with the Advisory Board," he said, "and you see the people sitting around that table - both alumni and non-alums - it is incredible the talent that is giving its time and its resources to support that idea."
Moody also notes other remarkable efforts, including the Mentors Association, The Citadel Business Hall of Fame, and the development of criteria for the business school.
"There's just been a ratcheting up of the whole level of the program," he said. "It has been really exciting."
Moody said the Advisory Board has allowed him to use his talents in organizational development, and utilize his experience in the local community. He has served as chairman of the Board of Directors for the Charleston Regional Development Alliance in 2000, Campaign Chairman of the Board of Directors for Trident United Way, among others. "I know what some of the economic development needs are and how all this stuff works together to bring those ideas out," he said, particularly considering that a lot of the graduates from The Citadel remain in South Carolina.
Dean Walker said that Moody has prompted and coached the Advisory Board through the years. "He has led board meetings, involved us with the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, gave us consulting opportunities with his firm, actively supported us in getting the class of 1965 to support The Citadel Business Hall of Fame, and lectured in our courses," he said. "As Dean, I can always rely on Bill for good counsel, assistance, and encouragement."
