Thanks to the generous support of seventy-six individual and corporate donors, one hundred eighty-three graduate and undergraduate students were given scholarships, fellowships, or awards at the College of Commerce this year.
| Maurie Richie, senior in accountancy, receiving his award certificate from Dean Thomas, at the awards banquet. |
These investments in the college help us recruit the best students in the country. At the graduate level, especially, this support is crucial. Competition for outstanding graduate students is fierce. To attract them to Illinois, it is no longer enough to offer teaching assistantships. To get the best you have to offer several years of fellowship support. With gifts from our alumni and friends we have been able to do this at an increasing rate, and our doctoral programs have benefited. When we invest in doctoral students, we are investing in the college educators of the future.
At the undergraduate level, scholarships are used to both attract and reward outstanding students. Based on both need and merit, one of the important features of the scholarships supported by donors is that they help us attract excellent students from varied cultural backgrounds, which in turn makes all educational experience for all college students far richer. Learning new things in all areas of life is what college is all about, not just learning in the discipline.
Awards that recognize superior academic performance encourage students to excel and reward them when they do. The students we educate today will become tomorrow's business leaders. There is no investment you can make that will yield stronger returns.
We greatly appreciate the faith our donors have demonstrated in what we do and our ability to do it well
THANK YOU FOR INVESTING IN THE COLLEGE, INVESTING IN STUDENTS, INVESTING IN THE FUTURE.
This past year we have received many gifts in support of students. Here's a sample of three;
THE WILLIAM L. CAMPFIELD MINORITY STUDENT AWARD in Accountancy was established in April 1995 as the result of a generous gift from his sister Emma Stewart. The award will be based on academic merit and is reserved for minority students majoring in accountancy.
William L. Campfield was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in accountancy at the University of Illinois. The year was 1951. For much of his career he was director of training for the General Accounting Office in Washington D.C. He also served as controller for Johnson C. Smith University and Southern University.
In 1969, Mr. Campfield returned to his alma mater as a visiting professor of accountancy. He served in this capacity at several other universities including Rutgers, Ohio State University, Tuskeegee Institute, Florida A&M , and, most recently, Florida International University.
Mr. Campfield earned a bachelor's degree from NYU and a master's from the University of Minnesota. He was a member of the American Association of Certified Public Accountants. When he died in 1993, Mr. Campfield was 81 years old.
THE MEAD FAMILY FOUNDATION ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP was established in May 1995 with a gift of $12,000. The foundation expects to make similar or larger gifts in subsequent years. The scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate student in the college who is pursuing studies in international business.
This fund has been established to honor Gordon V. Mead, a 1929 graduate of the commerce curriculum. Born in 1906, in Iowa, Mr. Mead took a job with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as soon as he graduated from college. He held various positions in the company and in 1952 was appointed general merchandise manager. He held that position until he left Firestone in 1957 to become president of Marshall Wells Hardware Company. In 1959 he moved from Duluth, Minnesota, to Florida and became owner of ACE Hardware Stores in Winter Haven, Lakeland, and Tampa, Florida.
Mr. Mead married Katie McRae in 1934. They had three children. The Mead Family Foundation was established upon Mr. Mead's death in 1990.
THE JOHN W. QUEENAN SCHOLARSHIP FUND was established in April 1995 with an initial gift of $10,000 and a pledge to raise the endowment to $25,000 next year. The scholarship, based on academic merit, leadership, initiative, and integrity, will be awarded to accountancy undergraduates.
This scholarship was established to honor John William Queenan by his children. John Queenan joined the firm of Deloitte Haskins and Sells in New York as soon as he graduated from the accountancy program at the University of Illinois in 1927. He remained with that firm until 1970, as a partner from 1939-55 and managing partner from 1956-70. He served as a member of the Federal Price Commission from 1971-73 and was a member and vice chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards board from 1973-74.
Mr. Queenan died in 1992.
Paul M. Van Arsdell, former head of the Department of Finance,
died on October 10, 1994, in Urbana, Illinois, at the age of 89.
Born in Indianapolis, Professor Van Arsdell earned three degrees
at the University Of Illinois: B.S. Accountancy 1927; M.S. Accountancy
1929; Ph.D. Economics 1935. He joined the UI faculty in 1927,
and taught courses in economics and accountancy. In 1957 Paul
Van Arsdell became the first head of the newly formed Department
of Finance. He served in that position until he retired from the
university in 1971. After retirement he continued to teach, first
at Florida Atlantic University, then at Miami of Ohio, where he
was the Armco Alumni Professor of Finance. In 1980 he retired
from teaching.
During his long and successful career, Van Arsdell was recognized for his teaching and scholarship, alike. Despite his many administrative positions at the college, he never stopped teaching. In an interview in 1971 he said, "Teaching is the paramount function of the educator. I have never given it up." In 1976, former students established the Paul M. Van Arsdell Award in Finance at the College of Commerce to honor him. This award is given to graduate teaching assistants who demonstrate outstanding scholarship and teaching ability. Among his many publications is the popular text, Corporate Finance: Policy, Planning, Administration.
He was a past president of the American Finance Association, co-founder and past president of Midwest Finance Association, and a founding member of the Southern Finance Association. He was an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, past chairman of the board of the University YMCA, member of the Illini Union Board, and president of the Kiwanis Club. From 1943 to 1946 Van Arsdell served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C.
Professor Van Arsdell is survived by his wife, Sopie, one son, Stephen, and six grandchildren
Earl G. Planty died on December 19, 1994, in Boca Raton, Florida.
He was 91. Professor Planty taught management in the Department
of Business Administration at the University of Illinois from
1955 until his retirement in 1967. Born in upstate New York, Professor
Planty earned a B.A. from St. Lawrence University, an M.A. from
Columbia, and a Ph.D. at Cornell University. He also did post-graduate
work at Harvard.
He had a long and varied career, ranging from an English teacher, to executive development and training director at Johnson & Johnson Corp., to management professor. While on leave from Illinois he spent a year as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Southern California and was dean of the College of Business Administration at Haile Selassi I University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1964-66. Appointed to that post by the USAID, he helped found the business college, recruited faculty and students, and established an Ethiopian executive development program. Planty was the author of two books and many articles on training and management.
For his contributions to the field of executive development, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Management. In 1957 he was honored by the Council for International Progress in Management. Professor Planty is survived by his wife Marjorie, two daughters, Jean Lundman and Mary Planty, and four grandchildren.
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