President of 'PhD Project' to Speak at Walton College

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Bernard Milano

Bernard J. Milano, president of The PhD Project, an organization that has helped quadruple the number of minority faculty members in university business programs since 1994, will be on the University of Arkansas campus Sept. 18-20 to meet with students, faculty and administrators.

Eli Jones, dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, is hosting Milano's visit. While on campus, Milano will meet with university administrators, Walton College department chairs and center directors as well minority scholars and doctoral students.

"Having Bernie on campus is a demonstration of our commitment to diversity, as a college and a university," said Barbara Lofton, Walton College director of diversity and inclusion. "As we continue to move forward, we hope to invite other speakers on campus to be the voice of our diversity vision."

He will speak at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the First Security Auditorium, Room 218 of Willard J. Walker Hall. His talk is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. That evening he will attend the Lideres de Corazon Gala at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers.

Milano is the president of the KPMG Foundation and KPMG Disaster Relief Fund. He serves on numerous professional, community, religious and educational boards including Episcopal Diocese of Newark N.J., Beta Gamma Sigma, Enactus (formerly SIFE), Points of Light Foundation, Independent Sector, Campus Compact and others.

He chairs the business school advisory boards at Ramapo College of New Jersey and North Carolina A&T State University. From 2002-2009 he was a member of President George W. Bush's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He received the AICPA Special Recognition Award in 2006, The MLK Special Achievement Award from Bentley College in 2009, and this year, he received the Advocacy Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education as well as the American Accounting Association's Outstanding Service Award.

Milano holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Temple University and honorary doctorates from North Carolina A&T University and Kent State University. He lives with his family in Allendale, N.J.

For more information, contact Barbara Lofton at blofton@walton.uark.edu.