After graduating from Concord in 1979 with a degree in business administration and a concentration in management, David Kirby of Mullens, West Virginia built a successful career in the financial services industry. He worked as a corporate trust banker, an investment banker, a retail broker and a municipal advisor. He currently serves as a managing director and financial advisor at Truist Investment Services, Inc. in Charleston, West Virginia where he was a financial advisor to individuals, businesses, and institutions.
While his professional career is notable, so is David’s generosity to his community and his alma mater.
“There was a period of 20 years when I was totally disconnected because I was busy. My wife and I started raising a family, and I was chasing a career. I reconnected with Concord at a Charleston Dinner,”
David Kirby
Once he reconnected with his alma mater, David was asked to join the Concord University Foundation Board of Directors in 2005. He served on the Investment Committee, and for more than a decade, Kirby has contributed to the Foundation Board both as a member and as the chairman.
“It’s kind of a lifestyle. There are things that run through my mind everyday: it is God and country, family and work, and it’s Concord. What can I do? Not how large a check can I write today, but what can I share with them,” David says.
David Kirby has certainly shared a great deal with Concord. He has financially supported scholarships and campus projects while using his financial knowledge to help guide the Foundation’s growth and service to the university: “I’m having a more rewarding time these past 17 years than I had the 2.5 years I was there [as a student].”
In 2018, Concord University’s Board of Governors and President Kendra Boggess bestowed upon David the Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa.
“I was so honored…I was so touched by it and it meant so much to me,”
David Kirby
As an alumnus, David saw an area where he could help the institution that provided the groundwork for the successful life he built, and he encourages all alumni to find a way they can contribute and “fill that void.”
“In the 40 to 50 years as an adult, I’ve noticed something…In the absence of leadership, the void may be filled with something you don’t like. The point of that is, if you see something that needs to be done, if you don’t do it, someone else may, and it may not be done the way you want it done. So fill that void. Just go do it.”
Kirby adds that serving on the Foundation also comes with the responsibility to know when you’ve given all you can and to see opportunity for others to contribute in new ways to help growth continue. He worked to create term limits on the Foundation board, and his own term ended this past year. While Kirby is not currently serving on the board, his contribution to Concord continues in new ways.
“If you’re a Concord alum who is just all in, you hang around as long as they’ll have you and serve in whatever capacity you can…I would encourage any alums to find some way that they can make a commitment, some sort of contribution to the school.”
David Kirby