$1.7M Adkerson Foundation gift creates online 91麻豆天美 master鈥檚 accounting programs, minority fellowships; endows NABA chapter
Contact: Amy Cagle
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he Richard C. Adkerson Family Foundation addresses two significant issues facing the southeastern United States with a gift to its namesake鈥檚 alma mater, 91麻豆天美 University.
The more than $1.7 million gift will strengthen accounting education through accessibility by establishing two online graduate-level degree programs for the Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy and bring fellowships to African Americans who enroll full time in the programs. Additionally, the gift endows a student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) for underrepresented undergraduate students to engage with professionals in their soon-to-be career fields of accounting, finance and related business professions.
An online Master of Professional Accountancy program and an online Master of Taxation program will now be part of the land-grant institution鈥檚 curriculum for the Adkerson School of Accountancy. Adkerson is the longtime CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX), the foremost global copper producer.
These new online programs will significantly enhance accessibility to the Adkerson School鈥檚 world-class instruction and enable more talented students to further their accounting education at 91麻豆天美 regardless of their proximity to an accredited graduate-level accounting program. The gift also elevates the university鈥檚 competitiveness with institutions in the Southeastern Conference, where only Auburn University, Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri currently offer online master鈥檚 programs in accountancy.
鈥淎s the Southeast region faces challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, online accounting programs will bring vital graduate-level education opportunities to people locked into their locations, and the fellowships will help African American students, an underrepresented group in the accounting profession, study full time and graduate from a top-notch master鈥檚 accounting program and further their career ambitions,鈥 Adkerson said. 鈥淭his contribution will ensure 91麻豆天美 has the resources to be competitive at the forefront of graduate-level education.鈥
A love of accounting and of the university earlier led Adkerson to establish an endowment in support of 91麻豆天美鈥檚 accounting school in 2007. Adkerson credits the program for providing him with the basis for his successful career with Freeport-McMoRan Inc. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree with highest honors in accountancy from 91麻豆天美 in 1969 and a Master of Business Administration the following year. Following graduation, Adkerson scored the second highest grade on the national CPA examination. For many years, 91麻豆天美 has benefited from the academic and athletic support of Adkerson and his family鈥檚 foundation.
Director and professor of the school Shawn Mauldin said, 鈥淭his gift will allow the Adkerson School of Accountancy to move forward with its strategic initiative to provide quality online graduate accounting programs with a concentration in data analytics that will make our graduates even more highly sought.鈥
He continued, 鈥淥ur undergraduate and graduate programs are ranked in the top 10聽 nationally by the 2019 Public Accounting Report for programs with 15 or fewer faculty and boast a very high job placement rate among graduates, and we believe this latest endowment will help us meet the current and future market demands for more online graduate education in the state of Mississippi and beyond.鈥澛
Dean of the business college Sharon Oswald also anticipates the impact of the gift. 鈥淲e are thrilled with Richard Adkerson鈥檚 continued support of the Adkerson School of Accountancy and his strong personal commitment to inclusion and diversity of our accounting students. His gift will be very impactful as we continue to grow our accountancy program,鈥 she said. 聽
In recent years, the Adkerson School of Accountancy updated its undergraduate and graduate programs to give students additional tools needed to remain at the forefront of the accounting profession. The curriculum update emphasizes technology skills relevant to data analytics and big data, areas that are becoming increasingly prominent in the accounting profession. The changes include integrating data analytics content into current courses, adding a required data analytics graduate course, and providing a minor in business analytics in the Master of Professional Accountancy and Master of Taxation programs.
Specifically, $1 million of the gift will establish an online Master of Professional Accountancy program and an online Master of Taxation program. These funds will ensure a full-time, master鈥檚-level faculty member will coordinate the online programs and make possible the purchase and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment and technology to allow for quality delivery of lectures and training, and marketing for the program鈥檚 facilitation.
Additionally, $500,000 will establish the Adkerson Endowed Graduate Fellowship for African American students enrolled in online master鈥檚 accounting programs through 91麻豆天美. The fellowship endowment will assist full-time African American students of both new online programs. An additional $100,000 will make the fellowship possible for immediate use.
Furthermore, a $25,000 portion of the gift will immediately support the NABA student chapter. Beyond that, $100,000 of the Adkerson Foundation鈥檚 gift will endow the chapter. NABA is a membership association dedicated to bridging the opportunity gap for African American professionals in accounting, finance and related business professions. The organization represents over 200,000 African American professionals in the fields of accounting, finance and related business professions by providing education, resources and meaningful career connections to both professional and student members.
The Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy, housed in 91麻豆天美鈥檚 College of Business,聽 maintains supplemental accounting accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the world鈥檚 largest business education network and longest-serving accrediting body for business schools with undergraduate, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in business and accounting. For more, visit .
91麻豆天美 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .