Faculty Spotlight

Building the best school of entrepreneurship in the country is no small task. To assist us in accomplishing this goal, we have maintained our commitment to sourcing and hiring only the most exceptional entrepreneurial educators. The students in the Jim Moran School of entrepreneurship have one-on-one access to these world-class faculty members at all times, and we genuinely believe this is one of our strengths. Among these faculty members is Bob Garner, a veteran of entrepreneurship and a gifted instructor. Mr. Garner has been a professor and trusted mentor since 2008, and during his time at FSU he has impacted thousands of students. He is also the advisor for the FSU Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) chapter and serves on the national SAM board of directors. We are proud of what Mr. Garner does for our students, and that is the reason he was chosen as our featured faculty member. Keep reading below to learn more about Mr. Garner and all that he does for our school, community and beyond.

What is your background?

I graduated from FSU with a degree in management in 1981 and

took a job with the transportation company, Roadway Express. I

spent 12 years with them and held positions such as Operations

Manager in Valdosta, Georgia, Driver Superintendent in Miami,

Florida, Assistant Terminal Manager in Atlanta Georgia, and

Terminal Manager in Montgomery Alabama. I left Roadway in 1993

and moved to South Arkansas where I opened three Hardees

restaurants. In 1999 I sold the restaurants, moved back to

Tallahassee, and completed my MBA at FSU. In 2002 I accepted a

job as Chairman of the Business Department at Flagler College in

Tallahassee. In 2008 I began teaching entrepreneurship courses

as an adjunct at FSU and when the entrepreneurship program

began growing I was hired as a full-time professor.

What is your role with the Jim Moran School?

I am a faculty member and my main job is teaching. I am also

heavily involved with the curriculum committee and serve on the micro grant committee. I am also the Chapter Advisor for a service club, The Society for Advancement of Management. Our

chapter performs community service and we apply for the

chapter of the year award, which we have won the last two years.

My favorite part of my job is getting to spend time and mentor

students. I have built relationships with students and still keep in

touch with them even after they graduate. It is very gratifying to

see these young people succeed in their careers knowing I was

able to assist them acquire skills that are part of their success. We are also very fortunate to have a great team at JMS. The

school has great leadership and all of the professors are really

engaged in making the students better.

What is your favorite part of working for JMS? What is your favorite memory of the 2019 graduating class?

My favorite memory of this class is their work in the SAM

organization. The leadership from this year ’ s class was

outstanding and I am really going to miss them. They really

bought in to the community service aspect and actually ended up

taking the lead on many of the projects. Their work won them the Chapter of the Year honor for both years. I also had the pleasure

of accompanying them to two case competitions. Their first year

they didn ’t place so to see how much effort they put into this

year ’ s case and be rewarded with a second place finish was very

gratifying. I know I will stay in touch with some of these students

for a long time and I am really excited to see them succeed in

whatever they choose to pursue.

What is your goal for the school?

I would love to see the school grow but I also understand there

are challenges given the nature of our curriculum. I also want our

students to be really prepared for life after they graduate. While growing the program might be out of our control, we are 100%

responsible for the quality of the students in the program so I

want our students to be challenged while they are here.