William C. Bayless, Jr., president, CEO and co-founder of American Campus Communities, will kick off the Fall 2015 B&E Distinguished Speaker Series. The event, hosted by the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics, will be held Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

ACC is the nation’s largest developer, owner and manager of high-quality student housing communities. Bayless also serves on the ACC board of directors. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from WVU in 1986, where he first began constructing his career in the student housing industry as a dishwasher, grill cook, night desk attendant and resident assistant at Summit Hall.

In 1993, Bayless relocated his family to Austin, Texas, where he co-founded ACC. Within 10 years, Bayless grew the company into a $250 million enterprise, using New York-based venture capital. In 2004, he facilitated the buyout of the venture capital partners and successfully led ACC’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first publicly traded student housing real estate investment trust.

ACC owns and third-party manages more than 200 properties throughout the United States and Canada, and has more than 3,000 employees. It has served as the developer for Lincoln Hall on the Evansdale Campus, the Honors College on the downtown campus and the new College Park Apartments. The company also owns property in Sunnyside that it is currently developing into a modern, 536-bed student community.

The B&E Distinguished Speaker Series is presented in part by Wells Fargo. The event is free and open to the public.

For further information on the WVU College of Business and Economics, please visit be.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

bd/09/04/15

CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131, Patrick.Gregg@mail.wvu.edu

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