College of Business

Albrecht Lecture Series

The annual Fall Celebration Dinner brings together members of the college’s advisory boards, alumni, students, faculty and staff to celebrate the college’s recent achievements and to recognize outstanding alumni. The highlight of the evening is the Albrecht Lecture, the kick-off for the distinguished lecture series hosted each academic year by the College of Business.

The Albrecht Lecture Series established through an endowment gift from former College of Business Board of Trustee member, Mr. Joe Albrecht, brings to campus business executives, government leaders, authors, entrepreneurs, and other notables for an open exchange of ideas and current issues. Although not an alum, Mr. Albrecht served as a member of the College of Business Board of Trustees for over 33 years. He established the lecture series endowment with an anonymous gift during the university’s first capital campaign.

In 2017, following his unexpected death, the College of Business named the lecture series in his honor to acknowledge his generosity, vision, and leadership. The Lecture Series provides an excellent opportunity for CoB students to interact with the distinguished speakers.

Through the years, the lecture series has hosted Senator Bill Bradley; Ben & Jerry’s founder Jerry Greenfield; Dr. Michael Burry (one of the central figures in the Michael Lewis book and movie, The Big Short); Paul DePodesta (a central figure in the Michael Lewis book and movie Moneyball); Shark Tank stars Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran. For the past several years the lecture series has focused on leadership hosting NFL legend Archie Manning for a conversation about leadership on the field and in life; historian and author Jon Meacham for a conversation about politics and leadership; and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

In 2016, the lecture series hosted Pulitzer Prize winning author and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan for a discussion on presidential leadership. In 2019, three years after visiting with our College of Business students during her lecture event, Ms. Noonan wrote about her experience at our Fall Celebration for her column in the Wall Street Journal. “Kids, Don’t become Success Robots: Tennessee Tech is an amazing school and nobody breaks the law to get admitted” was the title of her article. Her article prompted a wave of clothing donations to the Clothes Closet from donors all over the country as well as a number of inquiries from other universities about establishing and running a clothes-closet of their own.

In Fall 2021, the College of Business welcomed presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin.