About
Matt Crowley has chaired the AB Business Administration department since 2018 and has directed the AB MBA program since its launch in 2020. Under his leadership the MBA — offered in online, evening, and accelerated tracks for working professionals — has grown to 92 enrolled students and earned IACBE programmatic accreditation in 2023.
Before academia, Crowley spent twenty years in regional commercial banking — beginning as a credit analyst at MVB Financial in Fairmont, WV, advancing through commercial-banking and corporate-lending roles, and serving the final five years of his banking career as Senior Vice President for Commercial Banking at the WesBanco Mountaineer Region (2010–2015). He joined AB as Associate Professor in 2015 after completing his D.B.A.
Crowley holds a D.B.A. from Argosy University (2012), an M.B.A. from West Virginia University (1998), and a B.S. in Business Administration (cum laude) from West Virginia Wesleyan College (1995). He maintains his Series 65 securities license and is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).
Education
- 2012D.B.A., Doctor of Business Administration — Argosy University. Capstone: Loan Officer Discretion in Community Banks: An Appalachian Case Study.
- 1998M.B.A. — West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics.
- 1995B.S., Business Administration (cum laude) — West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Teaching
Dr. Crowley teaches three core courses each academic year and directs the MBA capstone seminar.
- BUS 310Corporate FinanceRequired junior-level course covering the corporate-finance fundamentals. Heavy spreadsheet and case-study workload.
- MBA 580Strategic ManagementThe MBA capstone integrating coursework across the program in a semester-long live consulting engagement with a regional employer.
- BUS 410Community Banking & Small-Business LendingA signature AB senior elective for students interested in small-town commercial banking. Heavy guest-practitioner component.
Practice, Teaching & Regional Engagement
Crowley's scholarly identity blends academic publishing with active regional consultation. He sits on the boards of three regional banks (in advisory roles), consults regularly with the WV Bankers Association, and is the lead AB faculty member on the WV Small Business Development Center partnership housed in the AB MBA office.
His academic work focuses on the strategy and survival of small community banks in central Appalachia. He has authored two textbook chapters and a dozen peer-reviewed articles on community banking, and is a frequent expert source for the WV Public Broadcasting and the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- 2024"Why the Community Bank Survives." Journal of Banking Regulation.
- 2023Book chapter, "Loan Officer Discretion in Rural Lending," in Modern Community Banking (Wiley).
- 2021Co-author, The Small-Town MBA: Case Studies in Appalachian Business Education. Routledge.
- 2025Plenary, IACBE Annual Conference, "The Liberal-Arts MBA That Works."
Honors & Service
- 2024IACBE Program Director of the Year, Mid-Atlantic Region.
- 2023AB MBA Program IACBE Initial Accreditation.
- 2020AB Faculty Award for Distinguished Service.
- 2018Appointed Chair, Business Administration.
- 2015WV Bankers Association Distinguished Service Award.
A community bank and a small college have the same problem: how do you stay relevant in a country that has stopped believing in small things? The answer in both cases is the same. You have to be the most trusted institution in the only town that still trusts you.— Dr. Matthew O. Crowley
Beyond the Classroom
Crowley lives in Philippi with his wife Bonnie (a retired Barbour County circuit clerk) and is a longtime deacon at First Baptist Church of Philippi. His three children are all WV Wesleyan or AB graduates; the youngest just completed his AB MBA last spring.
A serious fly-fisherman, he hosts an annual AB MBA Capstone retreat at the Elk River for the graduating cohort each May. He is the AB faculty rep to the WV Independent Colleges & Universities consortium and the volunteer treasurer of the Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.