Board of Trustees Approves Lentilhon Endowed Professorship in the Isenberg School of Management

The UMass Board of Trustees recently approved the establishment of an endowed professorship at UMass Amherst that will be awarded to a faculty member who will contribute to the academic enhancement initiatives at the Isenberg School of Management and its accounting department.

At their quarterly June 9 meeting, the board approved The Robert W. Lentilhon Endowed Professorship. Lentilhon was a professor of accounting who began his career at UMass Amherst as a business administration instructor in 1953 and later served as accounting department chair in 1971, according to Special Collections and University Archives. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 89.

The purpose of the endowed professorship is to attract or retain an outstanding faculty member who has made or can make a significant contribution to the academic reputation of Isenberg in general and the department of accounting in particular; and to help support and drive key strategic initiatives as directed by the dean and the head of the department.

These initiatives are to enhance the reputation of the school and may include research and student centric activities, as well as special activities needed by the dean to help achieve particular strategic initiatives. The holder of the professorship will be selected by the dean of the Isenberg School of Management and will serve at the discretion of the dean. The appointment will be for a term of three to five years and may be renewed.

The funds may be used to cover costs such as salary supplementation, education and travel expenses, graduate assistantships, research expenses and support services for the faculty member’s program.