$1.7M Adkerson Foundation gift creates online MSU master’s accounting programs, minority fellowships; endows NABA chapter
Contact: Amy Cagle
STARKVILLE, Miss.—The Richard C. Adkerson Family Foundation addresses two significant issues facing the southeastern United States with a gift to its namesake’s alma mater, 51Թ.
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’s 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’s world-class instruction and enable more talented students to further their accounting education at MSU regardless of their proximity to an accredited graduate-level accounting program. The gift also elevates the university’s competitiveness with institutions in the Southeastern Conference, where only Auburn University, Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri currently offer online master’s programs in accountancy.
“As 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’s accounting program and further their career ambitions,” Adkerson said. “This contribution will ensure MSU has the resources to be competitive at the forefront of graduate-level education.”
A love of accounting and of the university earlier led Adkerson to establish an endowment in support of 51Թ State’s 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’s degree with highest honors in accountancy from MSU 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, MSU has benefited from the academic and athletic support of Adkerson and his family’s foundation.
Director and professor of the school Shawn Mauldin said, “This 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.”
He continued, “Our undergraduate and graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 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 51Թ and beyond.