Education

• DBA, Finance, Walden University – ABD – expected graduation Spring 2020
• MBA, Finance, University of North Texas, Denton, TX (2012)
• CKA®, Certified Kingdom AdvisorTM, Kingdom Advisors (2012)
• SSG (Ret.), US Army Leadership Resident Courses – Primary Leadership and Development Course (1998), Advanced Leader Course, Phase 1 (2010), Advanced Leader Course, Phase 2 (2010)
• CFP® Certificant, University of North Texas, Professional Development Institute, Denton, TX (2003)
• BS, Business Administration- Double Major – Management and Marketing; Economics and Finance, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, AR (1998)

Background and Expertise

Melody Gray Block is a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional and has been involved in the financial services industry for over 20 years. She assists individuals and businesses with comprehensive financial planning, investment management, insurance risk management, retirement planning, estate planning, and charitable giving strategies.

Professor Gray Block is a retired Army veteran having served over 20 years with the Army National Guard. In her community, she serves on the Board of Deacons and the Finance Committee for Bethesda Community Church in Fort Worth, TX. Additionally, she serves as Past President for Team Networking a non-profit 501(c)6 educational business organization with over 140 business leaders and owners in the DFW area. Under her Presidency in 2018, the organization closed over $42 million in referred closed business. Furthermore, she has been active in various professional and community groups including Financial Planning Association, Kingdom Advisors, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Toastmasters International, and community-based finance educational classes. She has been a featured speaker at Gateway Church- Southlake / Dallas per Getting Debt-Free After the Holidays and Making Your Money Last in Retirement. Currently, the last presentation is being finalized for nationwide distribution by a well-known biblical-based finance educational organization.

Starting the Fall of 2017, Professor Gray Block was asked to join the SAGU Business Faculty to teach courses in the areas of economics and finance. Starting in 2020, she is excited to teach new elective course offerings available for all disciplines across the campus and online – Entrepreneurial Finance and Personal Finance. Professor Melody (as her students kindly address her) started teaching at SAGU because she believes that God will be impacting the world for His Glory through Christian-based businesses and she wants to assist in equipping the next generation for such a time as this!

Course Curriculum Instructed while at SAGU

Undergraduate Courses Principles of Management, Principles of Finance, Survey of Economics, Christian View of Business, Business Technology, Nonprofit Management, Global Team Leadership, and Business Finance

Graduate Courses Global Business Finance and Economics

New Course Offerings in 2020 Entrepreneurial Finance (Spring 2020) and Personal Finance (Fall 2020)