Joel Anderson Receives Honorary BBA at UNA College of Business Awards Banquet
Apr. 14, 2015
Bryan Rachal, Public Affairs and Media Relations
FLORENCE, Ala. – Joel Anderson was awarded an honorary bachelor of business administration degree at the annual College of Business Awards Banquet Monday night, April 13.
Anderson said receiving the degree meant quite a lot to him. “I was truly honored to receive an honorary bachelor's degree from UNA. And it happened on the 50th anniversary of when I would have graduated. I can now grace a wall in my office with a degree I am sincerely proud of, Roar Lions!”
The UNA Board of Trustees approved the honorary degree for Anderson at their March meeting. Marty Abroms, UNA Board of Trustees president, said the degree for Anderson is a well-deserved honor.
“Most everyone knows about the impact Joel has made on the Shoals and UNA,” Abroms said. “But what most folks do not know is that Joel has had a very significant impact on entire industries on a national and international level, primarily the pyrotechnics and wholesale distribution industries. He was an innovator of the efficient use of computer technology in the magazine and book distribution business and we can thank Joel for making the importation and use of consumer fireworks one of the safest industries in North America thanks in large part to his promoting and founding of the American Fireworks Standards Laboratories.”
Anderson is the chairman and director of Anderson Companies, and he serves as the chairman of Anderson Media. He was born and raised in Florence and attended UNA for a brief time in 1963-64; he left college to pursue business interests after his father’s death. He currently serves on the UNA Board of Trustees as well as many other boards. Anderson is also very active in many civic and philanthropic activities centered on efforts to improve lives through education.
Pictures of the event can be found here: http://www.unalionsden.com/archive/gallery.php?album_id=1147&photo_id=16320
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and Nursing. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. UNA also operates a renowned collegiate athletic program in NCAA Division II's Gulf South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age or national origin.