OXFORD, Miss. — University of Mississippi alumnus Lucian
S. Minor of Memphis has established a trust of $1 million
to benefit the university’s Patterson School of
Accountancy.
A longtime donor, he established the Lucian S. Minor
Endowment in 1996 to benefit the accountancy school, and
this latest gift will add to the school’s growing
endowment.
“Many of the courses that I took at Ole Miss contributed to
my success in the business world, particularly in the
accounting field,” Minor said. “I’m glad to share some of
my success with Ole Miss. Hopefully some needy students
will benefit from my contribution.”
The gift, his second Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust,
allows Minor and his wife, Mary, to receive interest income
from the trust during their lifetimes. The remainder of the
trust will ultimately be incorporated into the endowment.
We are tremendously grateful to Lucian and Mary Minor for
their generosity to the School of Accountancy and their
loyalty to Ole Miss,” said Wendell Weakley, president of
the University of Mississippi Foundation. “We are
especially thrilled about this gift since it not only
benefits Ole Miss but also provides many benefits to these
wonderful supporters of our university.”
A Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust not only allows for
annuity payments to the donor and spouse for life, but it
also can provide for significant tax benefits. Since this
type of trust is not subject to capital gains or estate
taxes, it’s an attractive option for individuals wishing to
make a large charitable gift and retain the benefits of an
annuity.
The gift is part of the university’s MomentUM campaign, a
four-year initiative to raise $200 million. MomentUM, which
ends in December 2008, already has raised more than $160
million for scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty
support, a basketball practice facility, residential
colleges and a new law school on the Oxford campus. Also in
the plan is a cancer center at the UM Medical Center in
Jackson.
The Lucian S. Minor Endowment fund was established to
provide income support for academics in the School of
Accountancy. The money provides scholarship assistance for
deserving students who are pursuing a degree in
accountancy, support for a lecture series in the school and
other academic needs. When the remainder of the trust is
added to the endowment, administrators in the accountancy
school plan to use the funds to help create a permanent
endowed faculty chair.
Faculty support is critical to helping the Patterson School
maintain its status as a Top 25 accounting program in the
Unites States.
“Lucian Minor is a longtime supporter of the Patterson
School of Accountancy and has been one of our most faithful
supporters over the years,” said Mark Wilder, interim dean.
“We are so grateful for his loyalty and generosity. This
gift from the Minors will benefit our school in countless
ways. It will significantly impact both faculty and
students and make our program even stronger.” Minor, who
graduated from Ole Miss in 1937, is a financial consultant
and retired accountant. He worked for General Mills Inc. in
Minneapolis, where he was assigned to the internal audit
staff and worked in more than 25 of the company’s largest
offices across the country.
After four years of service and his discharge from the Navy
in 1946 as a lieutenant commander, he began his own
accountancy firm in Memphis, which merged with Ernst &
Ernst (now Ernst & Young). He became partner-in-charge of
the Memphis office after the merger and held the post until
retiring in 1978.
In 2005, the Ole Miss Alumni Association recognized Minor
with its highest annual honor, inducting him into the
Alumni Hall of Fame. Minor has also received the
accountancy school’s highest annual honor, being inducted
into its Hall of Fame in 1997.
“Lucian Minor gave me my first job at Ernst & Ernst after I
graduated from the Patterson School of Accountancy at Ole
Miss,” said Larry Hardy, a longtime friend of Minor’s who
was inducted into the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 2006.
“He’s been a wonderful friend and mentor and has made an
impact on my life and career. This recent gift from him
shows his continued support of Ole Miss students and
faculty, which I think is truly wonderful and inspiring.”
For information about the Patterson School of Accountancy,
go to
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy.
For more information on the MomentUM campaign, go to