Sybil C. Mobley

Sybil Lenora Collins Mobley (October 14, 1925 – September 29, 2015) was Dean Emerita of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) School of Business and Industry. She led its business program and was the founding dean of its Business School. She also oversaw community projects including a revitalization program for majority African American Gretna, Florida.

Early life and education

Sybil Collins grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, where her father, Melvin Collins was an educator and founder of the Shreveport Sun newspaper, and her mother was a teacher. She graduated from high school and then attended Bishop College in Texas, where she was an outstanding student.

Opportunities for employment were slim and she accepted a job as a secretary at FAMU in 1945. Years later, she was recognized for her business skills and encouraged to take the graduate school admissions exam and excelled. She was accepted into the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, where she made the Dean's List. She was then entered the University of Illinois, where she completed her classwork towards her doctorate in one and a half years.

Career

Mobley rose from the ranks of a professor to department chair (1971-1974) to founding dean of the School of Business and Industry (SBI) from 1974-2003.

Some of Dean Mobley's other affiliations included Alpha Kappa Alpha, the International Association of Black Business Educators, the National Association of Black Accountants, Florida Women's Hall of Fame, and the FAMU SBI Hall of Fame to name a few. Dr. Mobley served as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development for multiple African countries, and she was awarded the FAMU Lifetime Achievement Award among numerous other awards. and was inducted as a member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.

Through her tenacious and assiduous efforts, Dean Mobley positively changed the personal, economic, and professional trajectory of hundreds of thousands of individuals, including her students, faculty, and staff - past, present, and future.