Recipients are usually freed from the responsibility of teaching while they hold a fellowship, thus allowing them to devote their entire time to classes and completion of their dissertations. Gifts in support of fellowships help strengthen our doctoral programs. The next generation of scholars and professors are being trained at Illinois and other like institutions with the help of committed donors who believe in our mission as a research and teaching university.
Werner Baer, professor of economics at the University of Illinois has made a gift of $30,000 to the Department of Economics to continue a program of support to students from Latin America enrolled in the Ph.D. program. This program was started by Professor Baer in the early 1980s and was underwritten by the Department of Economics, the College of Commerce, and a grant from the Tinker Foundation. Over the last two decades over 100 students from Latin America have received a Masters and/or Ph.D. degree from the department. Most have returned to their country where they are professors at universities or high government officials. Others have senior positions in such international organizations as The World Bank, the International Monetary fund, or the Inter-American Development Banks.
Paul W. Boltz has established the Paul W. Boltz Fellowship Fund. Income from the fund will be used to "attract, motivate, and reward graduate students (in economics) who show exceptional promise for careers in academia or business." In addition to annual gifts totaling over $60,000, Boltz has placed a bequest for this purpose and others in his will.
Paul Boltz is vice president and financial economist at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Illinois in 1974. In September of 1995 Dr. Boltz was one of the presenters at the seminar that marked the 100th anniversary of the Department of Economics. He also serves on the college's Business Advisory Council.
Conrad W. Hewitt, who earned a B.S. in finance, in 1958, has made a gift of $200,000 to fund an endowed scholarship in banking.
A Sheffield, Illinois, native, Mr. Hewitt served four years in the Air Force, from 1958-1962, after graduating from Illinois. In 1962 he joined Ernst & Ernst in Los Angles, becoming managing partner for the northern California offices in 1986, a position he held until 1989 when Ernst & Whinney merged with Arthur Young. At that point he became managing partner of Ernst & Young in San Francisco. He retired in 1995 to become superintendent of the State Banking Department, overseeing California's 240 state-chartered banks. Hewitt's first job, briefly held before he entered the Air Force, was also in banking at Commercial Nation Bank in Peoria.
Hewitt is a member of the college's Business Advisory Council. While at Illinois he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Tomahawk, Alpha Phi Omega, Illini Union Committee, Commerce Council, Finance Club, Illini Sportsman Club, and Marketing Club. He was also a major in the Air Force ROTC.
In making the gift, Mr. Hewitt's intention was to help both faculty and students. Income from the fund will allow faculty in the Office of Banking Research to hire graduate students to help with his/her research, thus providing help for the faculty and research experience for the student.
Hewitt serves on three Boards of Directors of companies located on the West Coast. Also, he has been active in several non-profit organizations serving as the President of the San Francisco Council of Boy Scouts, National Association of Corporate Directory, and the National Association of Accountants.
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| David Klock (center) on campus this fall. His gift in honor of R.I. Mehr will endow a graduate fellowship. |
David R. Klock, who earned a master's (1969) and doctorate (1971) in finance at the University of Illinois, has made a generous gift of over $240,000 dollars to fund a fellowship in honor of his professor and mentor, Robert I. Mehr. Income from this endowed fund will support graduate students in the risk management and insurance programs. Recipients will be call Robert I. Mehr Fellows.
When creating this fund to honor a man recognized as "leading scholar of risk management," David Klock said he hoped his gift would inspire other former students of Professor Mehr to add to this fund. He invites all those who have benefitted from the nurturing Mehr bestowed on his students to enlarge this fund with their contributions. These gifts will help the insurance program at Illinois continue to attract outstanding graduate students.
According to David Klock, Bob Mehr was a superb mentor. "He was tough, very tough, and held the highest standards for his students. But, the toughness was balanced with an inordinate sense of fairness. If you gave your best, he was willing to spend enormous amounts of time with you. I had great trust in and respect for the man."
ROBERT I. MEHR joined the Illinois faculty in 1947, three years after receiving a doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the first Huebner Fellow. During his thirty-year career at Illinois, he was recognized as a world authority on risk management and insurance. As the author of over fourteen influential books, both research and textbooks, plus many articles published in leading scholarly journals, he helped shape the study of insurance for several generations of scholars. In addition, he was recognized as an inspiring teacher of both undergraduate and graduate students. He loved teaching and was in turn loved by his students. In Fundamentals of Insurance (1983, 1986), he addresses his "academic progeny, . . . past graduate students who transformed my work at the University of Illinois from a daily routine to a delightful experience, enhancing my life immeasurably."
Although he retired in 1977, Professor Mehr remained active nearly until his death in 1988, continuing to write, and accepting visiting professorships, and consultantships and traveling as far as China and Korea. During his long career he received many honors, among them the Elizur Wright Award for Outstanding and Original Contributions to Literature of Insurance (1956 and 1963). He was a past president of the American Risk and Insurance Association and the American Society for Insurance Research. He was also editor of the Journal of Risk and Insurance. This gift is a fitting testament to Klock's affection for Professor Mehr and love for the university.
DAVID KLOCK is chairman and CEO of CompDent Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia, a prepaid dental plan service. He served as a consultant to the company from 1981-91, has been a board member since 1984, and in 1991, he joined the company as president. In 1993 he led a management buy-out of the company and became chairman and CEO. In 1995 he took the company public, trading on Nasdaq under the symbol CPDN.
Before joining CompDent full time in 1991, Dr. Klock held several academic appointments including chairman of the finance department at the University of Central Florida. He earned his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University, graduating summa cum laude, before attending graduate school at Illinois.