Anthony C. Nelson - Dean

Anthony C. Nelson is the dean of the College of Business at Bowie State University. He is responsible for the overall operation of the college, which involves strategic planning, budgeting, personnel management, curricula and instructional management, and other academic matters. As dean, he established a Student Advisory Council and revitalized the Board of Advisors.  He led the alliance between the Bowie Business Innovation Center (Incubator), the City of Bowie, Prince George's County, and Bowie State University to house the Center within the College of Business building.  He established the Pillar of Success Awards Program to provide scholarships to business students and recognize faculty and alumni for their achievements.  Dr. Nelson led the efforts to establish a first-class assessment program for the college which led to reaffirmation of accreditation.  As an academician, he has been responsible for generating over one million dollars in grants and contributions.  Dr. Nelson has over 20 years of higher education and corporate experience in the area of information technology. Prior to joining Bowie State University, he was the dean of the College of Business at Grambling State University. He also taught information systems development courses at Grambling, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of South Florida. He has held various systems development and project management positions with manufacturing firms such as National Steel, Inc., and Champion International Paper, Inc. and in the banking industry with Mellon Bank. Additionally, he has consulted with various corporations, city governments and local businesses to improve their business processes using computer solutions. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce.  Dr. Nelson is also a Past President of the HBCU Business Deans' Roundtable, where he helped to significantly increase fundraising and strategic alliances with corporations.

Dr. Nelson's academic credentials include a bachelor's degree in business management from North Carolina A&T State University, master and doctorate in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh, and a master in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.  His research interests include information systems personnel and the impact of information technology on society.  He has contributed to various journals including, American Review of Public Administration, Interfaces, and Information and Management.  He has also been a featured speaker on national television broadcasts regarding the impact of technology on society.  He is the founder and host of the Bottom Line TV program where he interviews business professionals about various business issues.

Anthony enjoys martial arts.  He is a former three-time State Champion and U.S. National Champion in Tae Kwon Do.  He also has a passion for visiting and speaking to men in juvenile detention centers and prisons.  He has authored a book, entitled Repentfully Yours, which is targeted towards helping young men make moral decisions.

Gwenda Clark - Staff Assistant

Gwenda Clark, Staff Assistant for the College of Business, came to Bowie State University in Spring 2002 as an Administrative Assistant II with the Student Support Services / TRiO Program. That position afforded her vast experience in working with budgets and grants. She is also skilled in administrative office management, communications, human resources recruitment, marketing and customer service.

As a former Regional Communications Coordinator in the banking industry, she set up programs designed to promote excellence in customer service between management and staff.  She also served as the writer, planner and designer of the corporate newsletter at several institutions.  Additionally, she received a Certificate of Appreciation award from the Prince George's County Executive for training and developing a mentally challenged worker into a successful front-desk receptionist / office assistant. She has also worked with the Prince George's County Minority Business Resource Institute, which is a good fit for her current position.

Currently, Mrs. Clark oversees the budget of all College of Business departments, and is responsible for the submission and tracking of adjunct and long-term faculty contracts.  She also designed and edited the bi-annual newsletter (College of Business News Brief) and College of Business Executive Overview.  Additionally, she created an adjunct faculty handbook, a travel procedure manual for full-time faculty and staff, and a procedures manual for the department administrative assistants.

Gwenda has also served as a pianist, choir director and minister of music in various churches since age seven. She is happily married with three children and three grandchildren.

Deborah Adams - Administrative Assistant

Deborah Adams' background includes over a year of experience as an Administrative Assistant in the former Bowie State University Telework Communications Center, as well as over 14 years as an Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President at Verizon.  Debbie also has an Associate's Degree in Business Administration from Trinity College and a Secretarial Science Certificate from the American Management Association.  Debbie serves on Bowie State's Wellness Committee.  In addition to her daily administrative tasks, Debbie has a natural talent for coordinating the College's special events and projects.

Debbie is currently a member of Toastmasters International and IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals).  Debbie enjoys traveling; sewing and watching Jeopardy.

Nichole Mason - Retention Coordinator

Nichole Mason has over 10 years experience in higher education. She has served in several offices at Bowie State and the University of Maryland University College, including the Offices of Enrollment, Financial Aid, and Student Life. She also worked for several years in TRIO/Student Support Services as the Coordinator of Counseling Services. Previous to her current position, Mrs. Mason served as an academic advisor, sat on several University committees including the Wal-Mart Faculty Think Tank and coordinated Bowie State University's Federal Workforce Recruitment Program. At this time she has the pleasure of sitting on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Mrs. Mason currently works in conjunction with the College of Business Dean, faculty and staff to promote persistence to graduation.  She focuses on researching the student population to ascertain factors that contribute to student attrition, helping students build academic performance enhancing goals and mentoring them through to completion of those goals, recommending campus services to students, as well as programmatic changes to faculty as needed. She also advocates for students' matriculation and success, provides academic workshops and addresses students' personal issues. Mrs. Mason has enjoyed teaching first year seminar courses each academic year for the majority of her tenure at Bowie State University and continues to do so now. This spring she hopes to organize the Inaugural Career Day for the College of Business.

She completed her B.A. in sociology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, her M.A. in counseling from Trinity University in the District of Columbia and her C.A.S. in Instructional Systems Development from University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Mrs. Mason has an adoring husband and two daughters below the age of six to keep her quite busy whilst she's away from campus.

Nedra Mahone - Coordinator of Assessment and Accreditation

Nedra Mahone provides oversight for maintaining, enhancing, implementing, and coordinating an assessment program, and provide direction and leadership for academic program review, student learning, and accreditation activities; specifically, the implementation of the reaffirmation of ACBSP accreditation and initial AACSB accreditation efforts.  She includes coordinating at least four major accreditation committees: (1) Assurance of Learning, (2) Strategic Management, (3) Faculty Participants and (4) Student Participants.  It also includes ongoing collaboration with our Office of Planning Analysis and Account, the Division of Information Technology and other departments in order to collect data to assess student learning and program effectiveness. Continuing coordination with the dean, department chairs, faculty and staff is mandatory to foster a "culture of evidence" including appropriate measures and indicators for planning, assessment and effectiveness towards program improvement.