Our Donors' Voices

Mosso establishes professorship for accounting students

David Mosso, bba,’50, honorary doctor of commerce,’82, has always held Washburn in high regard. Since graduating from the University, he has stayed in touch with Washburn and made every effort to keep informed about what’s happening on campus.

When Mosso started thinking about leaving his own legacy at the University, he decided to create and fund an endowed professorship in accounting at the School of Business. He thought this would be an ideal way to acknowledge his own passion for the field, and help students realize their passion, as well as their potential. It would also provide students with a mentor who could offer expertise and knowledge from his or her own experiences and career, something Mosso feels is essential to the educational process.

Mosso is in the process of funding the accounting professorship, with a very generous gift given in December of 2011, and a planned gift, to be realized in the future, which will complete the funding needed to establish the professorship.

“Accounting is our largest major, and our graduates are getting very strong job offers,” said David Sollars, dean, Washburn University School of Business. “The key to the students’ success is largely determined by the quality of the faculty. Endowed professorships, like those provided by Mr. Mosso, allow us to recruit outstanding professors to Washburn by being able to offer competitive salaries and support.”

“Having someone with Mr. Mosso’s professional stature provide support to the School of Business is invaluable. We believe it is an endorsement of the school’s focus on producing
high-quality graduates to continue the Washburn tradition of excellence,” Sollars said.

Mosso had a distinguished career in accounting and financial management, including service as fiscal assistant secretary of the US Treasury, vice chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and chair of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board. He contributed to a book critiquing the present business accounting model and advocating mark-to-market accounting, a method that offers the best reflection of wealth building potential. He has been published in several accounting books and journals.

Mosso has fond memories of his experiences as a Washburn student and attributes much of his success to a strong educational foundation. He also credits mentors Dale Marcoux, then head of the economics department, and Eldo Bunge, then head of the English department, for inspiring him and keeping him interested in learning. As a student, Mosso recalls being motivated to do well by professors who were truly vested in his success. It was that experience that led Mosso to create a professorship fund. He hopes future students will share his experience and be inspired by a dynamic accounting professor, which his professorship fund will support.

A good education is at the foundation of a successful career. “Students have to strive to be successful. Being able to give back to the institution that has given me so much is a privilege, and something I feel fortunate to do,” Mosso said.
As for his legacy at Washburn, Mosso hopes his support will provide students with the best accounting education they can obtain and has high hopes it will further the frontier in mark-to-market accounting, making it a more familiar process and common practice.

For more information on how you can leave your legacy at Washburn University, you can contact the Washburn University Foundation at (785) 670-4483, or via e-mail at www.givetowashburn.org.