{"id":7244,"date":"2024-04-19T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T14:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/?p=7244"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:45:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T19:45:07","slug":"a-farewell-to-wisdom-monty-lynns-39-year-impact-in-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/2024\/04\/19\/a-farewell-to-wisdom-monty-lynns-39-year-impact-in-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"A Farewell to Wisdom: Monty Lynn’s 39-Year Impact in the Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

written by special contributor Lance Fleming<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Monty Lynn has served ACU and the College of Business Administration for 39 years as a Professor of Management. In all honesty, he\u2019s been much more than that in a career that, in June, will officially end in retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s been a researcher, and a writer, worked on social and emotional issues, dabbled in religious studies and poverty, and is now studying and researching how financial scarcity affects decision-making. He can\u2019t be pigeon-holed into one category, which is just fine for a man who spent his youth in Portland, Oregon, and Memphis, Tennessee, found his way to Searcy, Arkansas, where he earned two undergraduate degrees at Harding University, then went to Cornell University, where he earned a master\u2019s degree and then to Utah where he earned another master\u2019s degree and a Ph.D. at Brigham Young University. Later, he earned a post-graduate degree at the University of London\u2019s School of Oriental and African Studies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His varied background allows him to converse or serve as a mediator on any number of subjects, something two of his co-workers in COBA appreciate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>More than once, I have walked into Monty’s office frustrated about something, and he has helped me talk it through (to a solution),\u201d said COBA Professor Dr. Mark Phillips. \u201cI have heard him described as \u2019Steady Eddie,\u2019 as in no flash, just consistently there to help.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same for Andy Little, the Associate Dean for COBA and Associate Professor of Business Law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

photo courtesy of the Prickly Pear<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c<\/span>Monty has been an extraordinary colleague and friend to so many of us for so many years here in COBA,\u201d Little said. \u201cHe is a gifted and beloved teacher, a focused and respected scholar of the highest caliber, and a generous and thoughtful mentor to the rest of us on the faculty.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany times, I have ushered myself into his office, plopped down in one of his chairs, and sought his advice,\u201d he said. \u201cHe never fails to help me work through a problem or challenge with insight, clarity, and grace.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynn\u2019s varied interests and how he\u2019s gone about his business reflect the leadership he\u2019s served under for 39 years in COBA. The deans he\u2019s worked for \u2013 from Bill Petty to Brad Crisp and the others in between \u2013 have allowed him to research and teach in a way he might not have been able to teach at other universities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed that COBA has always supported research,\u201d he said. \u201cEducation can be territorial, but that\u2019s never been the case in COBA. We work in an open research community that affirms the pursuit of interesting and valuable questions that often have a faith component.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynn taught management, health care administration, international poverty and development, and the Introduction to Business course, incorporating his natural curiosity into teaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Jeremy Enlow<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taught the freshman business course the last couple of decades,\u201d he said. \u201cWe sampled several different topics, from accounting to marketing to financial management and law,\u201d Lynn said.,\u201cThat breadth sparked several ideas to follow up on in research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynn began his ACU career in 1985. He and his wife Libby had married in 1983, and the day before he interviewed at ACU, he interviewed with Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, which would have meant a return home for Libby. But when he got to Abilene and ACU, they knew they weren\u2019t leaving.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWhat led me here was a dream,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cBill Petty was the Dean of COBA, and he wanted to build a high-quality, faith-based business school. That resonated with us. We lived in Utah then, and I didn\u2019t know if I wanted to go into business, consulting, or teaching. I interviewed in all three areas and considered what each would be like.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut once we got to Abilene, the decision was made,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cIt\u2019s like those stories from students who say, \u2018Well, I was undecided until I came to campus, and then I was sure ACU is the place for me.\u2019 It was the same for Libby and me. Being on campus and meeting the people made it an easy decision. I was going to take it one day at a time. That turned into nearly four decades.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With retirement looming, incoming freshmen won\u2019t be taking Introduction to Business under the mild-mannered Lynn. They also won\u2019t be experiencing his first test.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cF<\/span>reshman students often need a great deal of guidance and nurturing, and Monty provided that on top of his excellent teaching,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cI suspect that Monty has taught more of our current grads than any other faculty member in COBA’s history. The funniest student comment I ever heard about Monty was, \u2018He is so nice, and he looks so gentle, and his class is so enjoyable, and then BAM, the first exam is a killer!\u2019 \u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Any praise for Lynn and his career is quickly deflected by the soft-spoken father of two and grandfather of seven, who credits any of his success back to COBA\u2019s leadership and the college\u2019s continued commitment to ACU\u2019s Christian ideals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission has stayed consistent in mission and ethos,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cThere\u2019s been no mission drift. The\"\" values that inspired Libby and me when we visited in 1985 are in place today. Those values include a deep commitment to Jesus Christ, a commitment to actively living your faith, to living your faith in the classroom, to valuing students, and to not dying on the vine but staying active professionally and growing. Those are strong and unerring. We\u2019ve had so many great leaders at COBA who\u2019ve continued to help us keep our eyes on those values.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The humble Lynn has held many leadership roles in COBA: Chair of the Department of Management Sciences, Associate Dean for COBA, Director of the MBA program, and Director for the Center for Business and Economic Research, and holds the chair of W. W. Caruth Chair in Owner-Managed Business.\u00a0 Even though Lynn has not been in the Dean\u2019s chair in his tenure, Little said he still draws the kind of respect those men have attracted, and he deserves a great deal of credit for COBA\u2019s continued excellence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I can’t think of a more esteemed faculty member during my 13 years in COBA, and part of what makes him so respected is that any words we might offer praising him upon his well-deserved retirement will be met with humility and a little bit of deflection on his part,\u201d Little said. \u201cHe is a model professor, and we all are better because we worked alongside him.\u00a0 It’s been one of the distinct honors of my career to have called Monty a colleague and friend.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynn already has reflected on what it will be like to only research and write during his last year, and he knows it will be an adjustment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIt\u2019s rare to have 18-to-21-year-olds want to hang out with you,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cAs a teacher, there\u2019s an automatic connection to students because we teach. So, when they see you, they say, \u2018Hi,\u2019 or they want to get a cup of coffee or come by the office. Unfortunately, that will be instantly gone, and I know I will miss that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what else I would have done,\u201d he said when asked if he had any regrets from the last 38 years. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine a life in consulting or business. My life has been here, and it\u2019s been as a teacher. And I identify with that more than anything else.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And he\u2019s one that Phillips aspires to be like one day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The three things that come to mind for me when I think of Monty are the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, and the impressive white mustache of Mr. Monopoly (from the board game),\u201d he said. \u201cI have said more than once that I would take a bullet for Monty Lynn, and when I consider what I hope to be like when I am a little older, Monty is one of the people I hope to become more like.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There can be no higher praise for a self-described explorer from Oregon who found a home in Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

written by special contributor Lance Fleming Dr. Monty Lynn has served ACU and the College of Business Administration for 39 years as a Professor of Management. In all honesty, he\u2019s been much more than that in a career that, in June, will officially end in retirement. He\u2019s been a researcher, and a writer, worked on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7244"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7262,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7244\/revisions\/7262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}