ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Marketing Professor Cara Peters was recently selected as the William H. Grier Professor for Winthrop University’s College of Business Administration. The Grier Professorship is awarded every four years to an excellent classroom teacher who is highly imaginative, dependable and in command of his or her discipline.
Established in 1993, the designation honors the memory of Grier, a long-time member
and chair of the Winthrop Board of Trustees, and the first male recipient of an honorary
degree from the College of Business Administration.
Other faculty members who have held the professorship were Economics Professors Lou
Pantuosco and Gary Stone and Marketing Professor Jane Thomas.
Peters joined the Winthrop faculty in 2004 as an assistant professor and by 2012 was promoted to professor. Business Dean P.N. Saksena said Peters’ 15-year record of teaching, research and community service reflects a long tenure of excellence in several areas.
In the classroom, Peters has taught graduate and undergraduate level courses, as well
as online and individual/directed student learning. She has consistently explored,
developed and implemented new methods to engage students in the learning process and
has been given numerous teaching awards that recognize the quality and innovativeness
of her instruction. The awards are as follows:
*Winthrop’s Distinguished Professor Award, 2019;
*Teacher of the Year for York County Chamber of Commerce, 2010;
*S.C. Governor’s Distinguished Professor Award, 2010;
*Winthrop’s LaRoche Graduate Faculty Award, 2010;
*Winthrop’s Kinard Award, 2009;
*College of Business Administration’s Wachovia Excellence in Teaching Award, 2006;
*NAACP nominee for Outstanding Professor on campus, 2006; and
*Chevrolet Scholastic Achievement Award, 2005.
During her tenure at Winthrop, Peters has published 87 journal articles, two book
chapters, nine conference proceedings and given 27 conference presentations. Her research
productivity is the highest among business faculty, in that she averages six published
journal articles annually.
Known as a consistent leader for service, Peters has contributed to the university, the College of Business Administration, her department, the field of marketing and the local community. She has held several academic committee leadership roles, led faculty searches and helped reshape curriculum.
In 2013-15, she worked with the Graduate School dean to write a $40,000 grant for the university that was funded by the Council of Graduate Schools and TIAA-Cref. They implemented a series of financial literacy events on campus and measured the impact of these events on students’ knowledge of financial management.
Peters and another marketing professor have received significant national publicity for their research on Black Friday shopping/consumer behaviors. The work has been cited and discussed among national and regional media outlets each of the past several years as the holiday shopping season approaches. In 2017, she also garnered national media attention for her research on NASCAR fans.
Before joining the Winthrop faculty, Peters completed an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in marketing at the University of Nebraska.
For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at 803/323-2404 or e-mail her at longshawj@winthrop.edu.
