Walker College of Business
Whether you’re planning the design for a functional new business space, coordinating a major convention or presenting to a Fortune 500 company’s top brass, innovation and leadership are valuable commodities. Within the Walker College programs, you’ll discover a rigorous and collaborative approach to learning that inspires informed judgment, decisive action and cultural literacy. Across our diverse programs, experienced faculty will prepare you for leadership roles as you develop the creative design and strategic business skills needed in today’s global marketplace.
undergrads in Walker College
It takes 5 years to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s through Walker College’s 4+1 program in Organizational Leadership
business alumni across 44 states and 32 countries
MAJOR
MINOR
GRADUATE
Business programs focus on developing “T-Shaped Professionals,” students who are well versed in a broad range of abilities and who possess mastery of a skill or process in a specific discipline.
The 4+1 program in Organizational Leadership allows students to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s in only five years by taking graduate-level courses as an undergrad.
Our majors can spend their first three years in Erie and their final year in New York City to graduate with two degrees — a bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst and an associate degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
A 10,000-square foot studio gives Interior Architecture and Design students 24/7 access to cutting-edge design software, a materials lab, drafting studio and resource library.
The Hospitality Management program has one of the strongest internship programs in the country, offering opportunities with industry-leading hotels, restaurants and convention centers.
Brenda J. Ponsford, Ph.D., J.D., previously, Ponsford served as dean of the Sydney Lewis School of Business at Virginia Union University (VUU). Prior to her tenure at VUU, Ponsford was dean of Business and Aviation at Henderson State University (the public liberal arts university of Arkansas); and served as the MBA director and the marketing department chairperson at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
Ponsford has extensive experience teaching and consulting, conducting research and developing strategic partnerships with key institutions, meeting with foundations, college administrators and recruiting students in 20 European nations, 12 Asian nations, Palestine, Israel and Australia.
She earned her doctorate in business administration, MBA and Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Economics from Virginia Tech and her juris doctor from Concord University School of Law.
She is widely published and has presented at more than 50 conferences here and abroad. Among her primary teaching and research interests are B2B Marketing, Channels, Customer Service, eCommerce, Logistics, Negotiation, Promotion and Strategy.