Brandon Bolen Named Young Professor of the Year

MC business professor Brandon Bolen

Teaching economics, mentoring student-athletes and building his faith, Brandon Bolen is Mississippi College’s Young Professor of the Year.

“Mississippi College has many talented young faculty who love MC and their students,” Bolen says. “So I am just one of many who deserve this recognition.”

University leaders in May selected the business professor for the award named for the late English Department chair George Pittman.

The 31-year-old Mississippian cherishes every day working on the Clinton campus.

“I have great coworkers and a very supportive dean, but most importantly, I have gifted and extremely thoughtful students whose company I enjoy.”

The Ridgeland resident credits his students for helping him grow as an economics professor.

From School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo to teaching colleagues, Brandon Bolen has scores of admirers.

Brandon demonstrates “a deep understanding of his subject along with a wonderfully easy manner that makes him very approachable to students,” Eduardo said.

“Dr. Bolen is very engaging and has an amazing ability to connect with his students,” says accountancy professor Billy Morehead. “Based on the feedback I’ve received from his students, he brings economics alive in the classroom.”

Economics impacts people worldwide, and Bolen makes today’s financial issues relevant to his students in Self Hall classrooms.

“When a professor connects course content directly with the students’ lives, they learn to apply the concepts and retain them for a lifetime,” Morehead said.

In his classes, Bolen takes a “humanomics” approach. That involves teaching characteristics of human behavior often emphasized by economists. At the same time, he weaves in concepts like justice, faith and compassion.

A former standout point guard at Madison Ridgeland Academy, Brandon played four seasons on the Mississippi State University basketball team through 2011. He learned important lessons on the hardwood. It makes the educator a valuable asset as a mentor to the MC Choctaws men’s hoops team.

A 2007 MRA graduate, Brandon earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in economics at Mississippi State. Brandon joined the faculty at Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College in 2018.

He stays active on several fronts at the Christian university. The Madison native serves on the institution’s online enrollment committee, and with the School of Business faith and service committee. Serving as a Choctaw cheer-off judge in 2020 and with the Student Activities Committee are among his assignments. The list goes on.

Serving the community is a high priority, too. He’s a board member and volunteer coach with the Madison Ridgeland Youth Club. Bolen is a master teacher with the Mississippi Council on Economic Education in Jackson. He attends Grace Community Church in Mississippi’s capital city.

Away from university duties, Brandon and his wife, Nicole, are active parents with three young children.

The professor thoroughly enjoys teaching students in economics classes online or on campus. “MC students really are interested in truth and virtue, as our motto states. I love that about Mississippi College.”