An endowed fund that assists accounting faculty and students at Mississippi State University is passing the $1 million level.
The W.A. ŇBillÓ Simmons Fund for Excellence in Teaching of Accounting was begun in 1988 to honor a Mississippi State professor whose career spanned four decades. The fund supports graduate student scholarships, salary enhancements for outstanding accounting faculty and faculty summer research grants and awards.
School of Accountancy Director Pierre L. Titard said a $5,000 donation made by alumnus Richard C. Adkerson "put the fund over the million-dollar mark." Adkerson, vice chairman of the board of Freeport McMoRan in New Orleans, is a former Simmons student and one of the volunteers who led the initial fund-raising effort.
A Kosciusko High School graduate, Adkerson received a bachelorŐs degree in accounting in 1969 and a masterŐs in business administration in 1970.
ŇThis fund is beneficial in helping the school recruit and retain quality faculty members, as well as top-notch graduate students,Ó Titard added.
Simmons, of Starkville, retired in 1987. He began teaching at Mississippi State in 1947, shortly after receiving his bachelorŐs degree from the university. He earned a masterŐs degree from Mississippi State in 1950.
A part of College of Business and Industry, the School of Accountancy offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. The school is separately accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, the highest approval accounting programs can attain.
