BRTC to Host First Horizon Lecture Series: \”Cryptos! Ready or Not! Here They Come!\” Presented by Dr. Chris Lawrey

Black River Technical College (BRTC) will host the third event in the First Horizon Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. on April 24 at the Randolph County Development Center. Associate Professor of Finance Dr. Chris Lawrey from the University of South Alabama will present “Cryptos! Ready or Not! Here They Come!”

The event is free and open to the public. A meet and greet with Lawrey will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the BT Conference Room in the Richard Gaines Business Technology building on the same day.

Lawrey teaches Personal Finance, Corporate Finance, and Working Capital Management in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Real Estate. Lawrey is also the Director of Jaguar Investment Fund, a two-million-dollar investment fund, that is student-managed investment funds that gives students the reins to a portfolio of real money with the purpose of introducing and teaching students how to actively manage a portfolio and get real world experience implementing investment selection and management principles, according to southalabama.edu.

Lawrey’s research focuses primarily on working capital management topics such as cash management, trade credit, and corporate finance. He is an Arkansas native, originally from Hardy who graduated from Highland High School in 1989. He then attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1992.

He then earned a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in finance from Arkansas State University in 1996 and a PHD in finance from the University of Mississippi School of Business Administration. He was named the 2020-2021 Professor of the Year at the University of South Alabama, Mitchell College of Business.

Lawrey formerly worked at BRTC, Arkansas State University, Williams Baptist University, and the University of Mississippi.

He and his wife Tanya reside in Mobile, Alabama and have three children. Two sons, Tyler and Jordan, who live near Jonesboro with their families, and one daughter, Sarah, who resides in Hoover, Alabama with her husband. The couple also share five grandchildren; four granddaughters and one grandson.