Growing up in Southwest Virginia, Donald W. Caudill ’80 was told by a guidance counselor that he was not college material.
With that in mind, Caudill took the technical path in high school. He enrolled in the business program, where he learned general business and typing skills. However, one of his other high school guidance counselors believed he could attend Berea College. This guidance counselor was a Berea alumna herself, and she even took Caudill and other students to visit Berea for the first time.
“I knew from the first time that I visited Berea that it was the place I was supposed to be,” Caudill said, reflecting on that visit to Berea during the summer of 1976.
The following fall, Caudill arrived at Berea College with a special interest in starting his own business one day, so he chose to major in business.
Being placed on the technical track was not entirely detrimental to Caudill, as he gained skills in office management and typing quickly, which allowed him to land a job in his first two years in the Career Development Office. He worked as an office assistant for the department and connected his fellow students to careers after graduation. Recently, at his home in Virginia, he found a booklet he had sent to local schools advocating for student teachers to have a place to work upon their graduation.
“I believe every single student listed in the booklet got a teaching job,” Caudill noted.
Being told he was not college material stuck with Caudill after he graduated from Berea College and into his teaching career. He wanted to set a different example for the students he encountered. “I wanted Appalachian students, especially men, to know that they can go to college and achieve whatever they want,” Caudill said. “Programs like the Appalachian Male Initiative (AMI) support students like I was when I entered Berea College. That is why I support AMI.”
Photo by Brian Bilbro ’26
Caudill has generously donated to support many activities that AMI does to support their Appalachian male students. This initiative is sponsored by the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center and works as a mentorship program for students to gain skills in job interviewing, writing and more.
As a graduate of the Business Department, Caudill also wants to support current business students. For the past 26 years, he has hosted the senior celebration, where the department recognizes its graduating seniors and provides a scholarship for an Appalachian male student. “It is a really nice time to connect with current students and hear their plans for after graduation.”
While Caudill had aspired to open his own business after graduation, a door opened for him to attend graduate school at Morehead State University. One of his professors from Berea took the job of dean of the graduate school, was planning to begin teaching there and encouraged Caudill to apply for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. “It was an opportunity too good to pass up. I wasn’t going to have to pay much of anything to get my Master of Business Administration.”
Deciding to pursue a master’s degree led to an opportunity for even higher education. Caudill went on to earn his doctorate at Virginia Tech. He also had many business ventures, including managing rental properties and a real estate investment company.
He then spent a career teaching undergraduate, MBA and doctoral marketing courses at several institutions. He spent the last 18 years of his career at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
I am forever indebted to Berea College. I wouldn’t have made it as far in life without my Berea College degree.
Donald W. Caudill ’80
Unfortunately, his time in the classroom was cut short by a Stage 3 esophageal cancer diagnosis that Caudill has been fighting since December 2022.
Despite the diagnosis, Caudill has remained active in his research and writing about success. “There were days that I thought I was dying,” he said. “It was hard to get up. I would think of something that I could do for my research and force myself to work.”
His research has included writing multiple articles about business and a book about being successful: “The Success Pyramid: A Scientific Formula for Getting Everything You Desire,” for which he spent several years researching the different ways people become successful. Caudill’s contract with the publisher is a deal for two books, so he has plans for that as well. “The last book was more about presenting the research, but this one will focus on the practical ways of becoming successful.”
“After learning I had one of the deadliest forms of cancer, my goals became more authentic, and my viewpoint of what success entailed changed,” he said. “I had originally envisioned success as being rich or becoming famous. But, during the cancer treatments, I began to think more about leaving a legacy and helping as many people as possible achieve success. I realized that I had been blessed with personal and financial success and that more possessions would not make my life more meaningful. So, I began downsizing and ramped up my giving.”
Being able to outlive his prognosis has made Caudill grateful for every opportunity that he has been given to surpass it. “I was given up to two years with treatment to live when I was first diagnosed. That’s 24 months, and it’s now been over 41. I want to do as much as I can while I’m here.”
Reflecting on his time at Berea, Caudill says there is still camaraderie between him and his classmates whenever they attend events together, even more than four decades after their graduation.
He is mindful of the step-up Berea gave him as he graduated with little student debt and made connections at Berea that helped him in his career. “I am forever indebted to Berea College. I wouldn’t have made it as far in life without my Berea College degree.”
