The Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. College of Business at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) has celebrated several milestones recently, including its updated status from school to college in September 2025 and the grand opening of its new home, the Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Business Hall, in March 2026. But before the college even dreamed of reaching these milestones, its roots can be traced back to the founding of the University.
In 1966, when the University was still a conversation, Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. made PBA’s first official donation. Known by his friends as “Doc,” Rinker was a member of First Baptist Church—the location of PBA’s first campus.
Rinker was an extremely successful businessman who started his company, Rinker Materials Corporation, out of the back of a pickup truck. From meager beginnings, he built his company into one of the nation’s largest concrete suppliers. His success made him a multi-millionaire, and he used his wealth to give millions to PBA in the decades since.
In gratitude for his generosity, PBA’s main campus in West Palm Beach, Florida, is named after him, along with the business college, founded in 1989. Rinker was also awarded the American Free Enterprise medal in 1985 in recognition of his entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen, and an honorary doctorate in 1988.
The Rinker family’s generosity has continued since his passing in 1996 through his children and the Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Foundation, Inc. and the Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Foundation, Inc., which support the continued growth of PBA and the business college.
“Memory matters,” said Sheila Rinker, who perpetuates her father-in-law’s legacy, at the grand opening of the new business hall. “Institutions grow, new buildings go up, new names appear on the walls and that is a wonderful thing, but the people who laid the first stone, who wrote the first check, who covered payroll when nobody was watching, who believed in an idea before it looked like anything at all—those people deserve to be remembered. Not for their sake, but for ours, because when we forget where something came from, we lose sight of why it was built in the first place.”
Recent highlights
Over the past few years, the business college has experienced exponential increases in enrollment, full-time faculty, undergraduate and graduate programs, and centers of excellence. It also received AACSB accreditation in 2023, placing PBA among the top six percent of business schools globally—and one of only 10 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities to earn the accreditation. The AACSB is the longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools, and the largest business education network connecting learners, educators, and businesses worldwide.
Through its strategic location in the heart of West Palm Beach and expanded features, including a 300-seat tiered Titus Lecture Hall, a stock trading room with professional terminals, and multi-purpose classrooms in the six-story, 125,000-square-foot Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Business Hall, the college looks forward to welcoming more students into its programs and pursuit of educational excellence.
Learn more about the Rinker College of Business and its accredited programs.
