Accounting professor given URI endowment

KINGSTOWN – A professor in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business Administration well known for his love of teaching and his high-energy level with students has been named the first Richard Vangermeersch Endowed Professor.
Allan W. Graham, associate professor of accounting, is the first to hold the post named in honor of Richard Vangermeersch, who served the university for 34 years, retiring in 2004 as a professor of accounting. To honor Vangermeersch, friends and colleagues supported a fund for an endowed professorship in his name, which stands at $326,000. Interest income from the endowment is used to support the professorship.
URI is in the midst of its “Making a Difference” capital campaign, which seeks $100 million to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, enhance the student-centered campus experience, provide undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, and fund cutting-edge academic and research initiatives.
Graham, while not as flamboyant as Vangermeersch, who often performed song-and-dance routines in his classes, shares the same enthusiasm for teaching and the university. Graham has been with URI since 2000.
“Allan is genuinely interested in the college and its students and in making the university better,” said Mark Higgins, dean of the College of Business Administration.