The Richards College of Business is composed of the departments of Accounting and Finance, Economics, Management, and Marketing and Real Estate. It is one of 780 business schools in 53 countries and territories that have earned American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB) accreditation. AACSB accreditation has been earned by less than five percent of the world's business schools. ________________________________________________________

The Richards College of Business began as a two-year secretarial science program and in 1963 first offered a Baccalaureate Business Degree. In 1964, it became the Department of Business Administration and began offering a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics. In 1971-1972, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) was instituted.

In January 1973, West Georgia College’s plan for reorganization was approved by the Board of Regents, creating four schools (Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Graduate). This reorganization, effective July 1, 1973, also allowed for the appointment of the first Dean of the School of Business. The School included the Departments of Business Administration, Business Education, and Economics. In April 1973, Dr. J. Mark Miller was selected as the founding Dean.

Four months later, in August 1973, the School of Business was restructured to eliminate the Department of Business Administration and establish the Department of Accounting and Finance and the Department of Management and Marketing.

In 1984, the School of Business earned initial accreditation from the American Association [then "Assembly"] of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In that same year, Dr. David Hovey became Dean of the School of Business. Expansion and renovation of the School of Business building was completed in 1985, with $1.75 million appropriated by the Board of Regents, and dedicated on October 12.

In 1990, the International Finance and Economics Program began and in 1992, the Master of Professional Accounting was instituted. The next year, the Department of Management and Marketing was restructured, creating the Department of Management and Business Systems and the Department of Marketing and Real Estate.

In June 1996, West Georgia College was renamed the State University of West Georgia, and the School of Business became the College of Business. On July 9, 1997, Roy Richards, Jr., presented a $1.5 million gift from the Richards Foundation to the State University of West Georgia in the form of an endowment honoring his late father, Roy Richards, Sr., Southwire founder and A&M School graduate, and his mother Alice Huffard Richards. This was the single largest private donation in the history of West Georgia. The College of Business was renamed the Richards College of Business.

In September 1999, Dr. David Hovey retired as Dean and Dr. Jack Johnson became Interim Dean of the College. The next year, the Richards College of Business partnered with four other colleges to create the Georgia WebMBA, an online AACSB-accredited MBA program. In 2001, Dr. Jack Johnson was appointed Dean of the Richards College of Business.

After much effort was made to restore the original Adamson Hall on Front Campus Drive, it was razed in October 2001 and the new building, modeled on the original, built in its place. In September 2003, Dr. Johnson retired as Dean and Dr. Ara Volkan was appointed Interim Dean. In April 2004, with Adamson Hall complete (and dedicated on March 31, 2005), the Richards College of Business occupied two buildings on campus. In July of that year, Dr. Faye McIntyre was appointed Interim Dean of the College, becoming Dean in January 2005. In 2014, the School of Business building was named and dedicated in honor of J. Mark Miller. Three years later, RCOB celebrated 50 years as a college of business and 20 years as the Richards College. In 2020, construction began on Roy Richards Senior Hall which will consolidate the Richards College of Business faculty and staff into a single location. (Documentation provided by Nancy Lott, Richards College of Business, 2020)