Students transferring into the University of Mississippi’s Patterson School of Accountancy may want to take advantage of a new scholarship created by Guy and Lucy Moore.
With their recent $125,000 gift, the Pascagoula, Mississippi, couple established an endowment that will provide tuition support first to transfer students from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Second priority will be given to students transferring into the Patterson School from any of the state’s community colleges.
Additionally, the Moores recently included the university in their estate plans, naming UM a beneficiary of two trusts that will support all of the Moores’ existing endowments.
“In appreciation of how I was able to attend a community college and transfer to Ole Miss, which made it financially viable for me to attend and graduate from the university, we wanted to help students in similar circumstances,” said Guy Moore, who graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accountancy.
“We hope that the endowed scholarship will contribute to those students graduating from the Patterson School of Accountancy and going on to successful careers in whatever form they may choose.”
Moore retired from Deloitte LLP and Deloitte & Touche LLP in 2012 after 40 years, including 30 as an active partner. He worked in numerous Deloitte locations, including New Orleans, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; Boca Raton, Florida; and the company’s national headquarters in Connecticut.
“We are deeply grateful to Guy and Lucy Moore for their longtime interest in and support of the Patterson School,” said Dean Mark Wilder. “Guy has enjoyed an exceptional career and we are proud to have him as an alumnus and also as a member of the Patterson School Hall of Fame.
“Many students transferring from community colleges face financial challenges. The Moores’ gift will be especially beneficial to these students and will help enable them to receive an accountancy education that will serve them well throughout their lives,” Wilder said. “Guy and Lucy are wonderful friends of the Ole Miss Accountancy School and we appreciate them very much.”
All three degree programs at the Patterson School are among the top 10 in the 2017 annual national rankings of accounting programs published by the Public Accounting Report. The undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs are all ranked No. 8 nationally. The master’s program leads the Southeastern Conference in the rankings and the undergraduate program is second in the SEC. One or more Ole Miss accountancy programs have led the SEC in the rankings in each of the past seven years.
Guy Moore was named to the School of Accountancy Hall of Fame in 2013 and now serves on the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s board of directors. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and the Beta Alpha Psi accountancy fraternity.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the university and benefited greatly from the accounting program and many of my professors, especially Gene Peery and Jimmy Davis. Mr. Peery was more than a teacher; he was a life mentor for me,” Moore said.
For more information on ways to support the Patterson School of Accountancy, contact Denson Hollis, executive director of development, at dhollis@olemiss.edu or 662-915-5092.
By J. Dillon Pitts