VSU Alumnus First in Langdale Lecture Series

VALDOSTA - Doug Swords, '03, co-founder and CFO of Azalea Health Innovation, Inc., will be the first to present at the Harley Langdale Jr. Lecture Series, from 5-6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, in Pound Hall Auditorium, the Rea & Lillian Steele North Campus.

A cum laude graduate, Swords holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from VSU and served in various positions at Doctors Laboratory, Inc. for almost five years. In 2008, fellow VSU alumni, Baha Zeidan, '02, and Dan Henry, '02, joined him in winning the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, Guardian Bank Business Plan Competition. They used their business plan and monetary winnings in April to co-found Azalea Health Innovations, Inc., a company that specializes in providing health care entities with specialized productions and services such as IT support, billing, electronic medical records and more.

As Chief Financial Officer, Swords maintains relationships with outside financial entities, oversees all medical billing services and staff, performs marketing and sales duties and implements and supervises financial controls, including cash flow projections, budgeting, forecasts and long-term financial planning.

Swords will share his financial wisdom at the first installment of the Harley Langdale Jr. Lecture Series, which provides Valdosta State University business students and the public an opportunity to hear lectures on a wide range of business-related topics presented by experts in their related fields. This series is another step in the Langdale College of Business commitment to provide its students with high quality education by broadening their horizons and introducing them to real life experiences.

Pound Hall is located at the VSU Rea & Lillian Steele North Campus bordered by Patterson and Ashley Streets, as well as Pendleton Drive. Guest parking is available in the lot near Pound Hall. For more information, call Becky Tracey in the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration at (229) 333-5991.