American University ’s student voice since 1925
October 25, 2011 Volume 86 – Issue 8
THEEAGLEONLINE.COM
ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE
Courtesy of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
One year later: Remembering accounting Professor Sue Marcum and her legacy By ZACH C. COHEN, PAIGE JONES and REBECCA ZISSER Eagle Staff Writers
AU endowed a scholarship in honor of the late Professor Sue Marcum in July, to be given to undergraduates pursuing a master’s degree in accounting in the Kogod School of Business. This is the first year the scholarship has reached a sustainable level, meaning it can be given to students every year for the foreseeable future. The scholarship was originally set up by Marcum in April 2009 to develop students’ passion for accounting. Marcum was a beloved AU professor for 11 years,
and won Kogod Professor of the Year three times during her life, The Eagle previously reported. Three students have been awarded the scholarship since it started two years ago, according to Lara Kline, Kogod assistant dean for marketing and strategy. The scholarship was started with donations from Marcum. She even asked for her birthday presents one year to be donations to the fund. After Marcum died Oct. 25, 2010, members of the AU community and working professionals in D.C. who knew her raised over $50,000 for the fund, the minimum amount of money needed for a scholarship
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to be endowed. “The school really responded [to Marcum’s death] in a beautiful way,” said Emily Lindsay, who took over Marcum’s previous position as director of the Master of Science in Accounting program. “There was an outpouring of support by students and by the faculty and at the administration level.” Faculty and staff in Kogod see the scholarship as tangible evidence of Marcum’s legacy at AU, though they said she had always inspired passion in students for accounting. Kogod accounting and taxation Professor Don Williamson, a close friend of Marcum’s, regularly hears
stories of her lasting impact when speaking with professional accountants. “There’s a whole generation of accountants, I can’t tell you how many people, I go around time saying, ‘How’d you go into accounting?’ ‘Well, Sue Marcum. Sue Marcum told me to go into accounting,’” Williamson said. One of those students is Kaitlyn Rooney, a first-year graduate accounting student in Kogod, who learned not only skills but also passion for accounting from Marcum. She was the only recipient of the Sue Marcum Scholarship this year. “I’m honored to receive such an award,” Rooney said. “It’s just such a great
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A MENTOR AND A FRIEND Students and colleagues who worked with Professor Sue Marcum said she was a dedicated and passionate teacher. AU endowed a scholarship in her name this fall to be given to students pursuing a master’s degree in accounting. way to remember Professor Marcum.” An ongoing case Montgomery County Police have made no further developments in the case of Sue Marcum’s murder since issuing a warrant for Jorge Rueda Landeros on May 27. Landeros is still believed to be in Mexico. “We have no details on getting the suspect from Mexico,” Officer Rebecca Innocenti said. Landeros was a 41-yearold yoga instructor who was close friends with Marcum and taught her Spanish, The Eagle previously reported. Sue Marcum was a beloved AU professor for 11 years, and won Kogod Professor of
the Year three times during her life, The Eagle previously reported. She was murdered in her apartment on October 25, 2010. Marcum was 52 years old. Police initially identified Deandrew Hamlin as a suspect in the murder when he was found driving Marcum’s Jeep the day of her death. The police dropped charges against Hamlin in May, but later that month the D.C. Superior Court found him guilty of unauthorized use of a vehicle for stealing Marcum’s car, The Eagle previously reported. Innocenti said MCP is still pursuing the murder case. “The public perception is that we’re not doing MARCUM, PAGE 12 ≥
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