Endowed Chairs Continue to Elevate Baylor Research and Scholarship

During the Give Light philanthropic campaign, the Baylor Family’s generosity enabled the University to create an astounding 23 new endowed chairs: high-level academic positions that draw elite faculty. For context, when Give Light began, Baylor had just five endowed chair positions.

Give Light may have come to a successful close, but those efforts will fruit through the recruitment of elite, Christian faculty members to fill these new positions. 

Rebecca Files, Ph.D., joined the Baylor faculty this fall as the inaugural William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Accounting and Business Law in the Hankamer School of Business. Prior to coming to Baylor, Files built a highly regarded reputation as a teacher and researcher at the University of Texas at Dallas, a fellow R1 institution. 

At UT-Dallas, she was recognized as Undergraduate Faculty of the Year, and her research into accounting and business ethics has been featured in publications like The Accounting Review and Journal of Accounting and Economics, two elite journals within the field of accounting. As she trains future practitioners, Files says her discipline is a vehicle to invest in the lives of students.

“What a privilege that we have to play even a tiny part in students’ lives,” Files says. “Accounting happens to be what I was trained to do, and I enjoy figuring ways to talk about a difficult topic in an easy way. But, it’s really about the students and the relationships you get to build.”

The William E. Crenshaw Endowed Chair in Accounting and Business Law was one of two established in the Hankamer School of Business through a $5 million gift from Ed, B.B.A. ’73, and Denise Crenshaw.