JBU Associate Dean Melanie Peddicord Receives Barnabas Award

SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas (Oct. 29, 2025) - Melanie Peddicord, DBA, was honored with the Barnabas Award by the Christian Business Faculty Association at its annual conference hosted by Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. The award goes to those who serve with joy, humility and encouragement.

Peddicord serves as associate dean of JBU's Soderquist College of Business, program director for the university's online undergraduate business program and professor of accounting. She is also a board chair member and treasurer for CBFA.

The CBFA gives the Barnabas Award to a member who exhibits the characteristics of Barnabas, a disciple of Jesus Christ in the first century, through encouragement, servant-leadership, harmonizing, innovation, competency and dedication.

"To be recognized in the spirit of Barnabas - the encourager - is especially meaningful because it reflects not just what we do, but how we do it," Peddicord said. "This award reminds me that sometimes our greatest impact comes not from leading loudly but from quietly supporting others and doing the behind-the-scenes work necessary to ensure that CBFA achieves its mission of 'empowering Christian business faculty to transform the world for the glory of God.'"

The Christian Business Faculty Association is an organization dedicated to uniting and empowering Christian business faculty to help transform the world for the glory of God. It organizes conferences and provides awards and scholarships for business faculty to create and develop connections between Christian business professionals. For more information about the CBFA, visit cbfa.org.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas' top-ranked regional university (U.S. News) and top-ranked private university (The Wall Street Journal), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 34 states and 43 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers over 50 undergraduate majors, with top programs including business, nursing, visual arts, engineering, teacher education, psychology, computer science, construction management, graphic design, family and human services, and engineering. Fourteen graduate degrees are available in business, counseling and cybersecurity.

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