The founding dean of Florida A&M University's business school has died. Sybil Mobley passed away Tuesday at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. She was 89 years old.
Sybil C. Mobley started at Florida A&M in the early 60's, at that time the university did not have a business school. She created FAMU's School of Business and Industry in 1974 and the program has become one of FAMU's biggest and most acclaimed schools.
Mobley retired in 2003.
"On behalf of the entire FAMU Community, I’d like to extend my condolences to the family, friends, and former faculty, staff, and students of SBI Dean Emerita Sybil C. Mobley," said FAMU President Elmira Mangum in a prepared statement. "Dean Mobley was indeed a treasure to the University, and her passion, professionalism, and dedication to the success of our students have been felt across not only the campus but also the entire nation."
Tallahassee Rep. Alan Williams also offered a statement.
“Today, we mourn the loss of Dr. Sybil Mobley, while at the same time celebrating her legacy. As a graduate of FAMU’s School of Business and one of the legions of Dean Mobley disciples, we have lost a phenomenal teacher, a role model and iconic leader. She helped the university develop a national reputation and build key relationships with Fortune 500 companies across the world.
“Dr. Mobley’s legacy is and will be the best and the brightest students in business and industry that she helped prepare. Today, her efforts live on in the former students, colleagues and students who continue to make Florida A&M University, School of Business and Industry a leader nationally. I will always remember her as a trailblazer, how she always considered new and innovative ideas and never slowed down so that her students could reach higher heights in the corporate world. As a badge of honor, I am proud to call myself one of the students she called her “SBI Superstars”. If you were fortunate enough to be recruited by Dean Mobley, you knew that you were destined for success, because her standards for enrollment in the SBI program were at the highest level. That is the Dean Mobley we remember today," Williams said.
Mobley was among the first black women to receive a doctorate degree in accounting. She earned an MBA from the Wharton School, and her Ph.D in accounting from the University of Illinois.
She served on more than a dozen corporate boards including Anheuser Busch, Hershey's and Champion.
