As a woman to watch at UA Little Rock, Dr. Cynthia Taylor, an associate professor of accounting, has been breaking barriers at UA Little Rock ever since she stepped foot on campus.

A native of North Little Rock, Taylor started at UA Little Rock in 1986 as a member of the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program and was the first minority student to be accepted to the program.

“My elementary school teachers always said I should become a teacher, and I started to think that I should become a professor,” Taylor said. “As a student here at UA Little Rock, I realized I didn’t have any minority professors in accounting. I realized there was a shortage of minority professors, and that I could combine my love for accounting with teaching.”

In 1993, Taylor’s department chair, Dr. Jim Gaunt, encouraged her to join the Teaching Enhancements Affecting Minority Students (TEAMS) program at UA Little Rock. TEAMS started in 1992 to encourage and support minority students as they travel down the educational pipeline. The program offered tuition assistance, textbook grants, professional development, and a network to help students achieve their academic goals.

As a part of the Teams Program, Taylor earned a Master of Business Administration from UA Little Rock and a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Oklahoma State University.

“I do believe I was the first TEAMS scholar to complete the program and return to campus as a faculty member,” she said. “It was a great program, and I think UA Little Rock is to be commended for trying to increase the number of minority faculty on campus. Some might not know about the effort. I graduated with my Ph.D. in 1998, and I have been a faculty member since 1998.”

During her 24 years as a professor at UA Little Rock, Taylor is known on campus and in the School of Business as an advocate for students, receiving multiple awards for impacting students’ lives in a positive way. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the UA Little Rock Beta Alpha Psi Chapter, an international honors society in the School of Business that focuses on the recognition and success of financial information students and professionals. Taylor said that there is nothing in the world she enjoys more than helping her students.

“Teaching really is my passion and my calling,” Taylor said. “I enjoy working with students. One of the most rewarding things for me is to see my students advance in accounting and do great things. A number of my former students are CPAs and CFOs at nonprofits and corporations, while many own their own businesses.”

When Taylor received tenure in 2004, she became the first African American tenured professor in the former UA Little Rock College of Business. She hopes her story has inspired other minority students at UA Little Rock to complete their education.

“One of the objectives of the TEAM program was to have minority faculty in the classroom to encourage minority students to complete their degrees and to do good things in education,” Taylor said. “I think I have helped a number of minority students. I think it encourages them to complete their business degrees, particularly in accounting. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to encourage minorities to pursue accounting as a career.”