An adjunct professor suite in the Patterson School of Accountancy’s new building will be named for the family of Carolyn Golding, a current faculty member and University of Mississippi graduate.
Golding and her husband, Pete – the defensive coordinator for the Ole Miss Rebels football program – have made a gift of $100,000 to the Patterson School Building Fund, supporting the effort to strengthen the celebrated school for future generations of students.
The Oxford, Mississippi, couple’s gift comes on Giving Day, April 9-10, an annual online, social media-driven fundraising campaign. The fifth Ole Miss Giving Day lasts one day, eight hours and 48 minutes, in honor of the university’s founding year of 1848.
“The accountancy school is No. 1 in the SEC and Top 10 in the country and it was that way when I was in college. I wanted to support the school so that it can continue to grow and keep its high standards,” said Carolyn Golding, a 2007 PSOA graduate and Taylor Medalist who’s now returned as an adjunct instructor.
A native of Cleveland, Mississippi, the alumna also earned a Master of Tax degree at UM in 2008 and a juris doctor degree from the Ole Miss School of Law in 2011. She then worked for several private CPA firms doing individual tax returns before beginning her teaching career in 2015 at the University of Southern Mississippi; she also taught at the University of Texas-San Antonio before joining the faculty at Ole Miss.
“We are proud to have Carolyn as a Patterson School alumnus – and are very glad she is teaching for us in the PSOA. Her combination of working in private practice as well as her past experience in teaching provides an outstanding benefit for our students,” PSOA Dean Mark Wilder said. “It is humbling and inspiring to see our graduates invest so much in the future of our School. We are grateful to Carolyn and Pete for their generous support.”
Golding said she wanted to make a gift because she credits her Patterson School education for establishing the strong foundation she needed for a successful career.
“I had a great experience in the accounting school, and I have a lot of respect for the faculty,” she said, recalling a few professors in particular. “Suzanne McCaffrey was my first accounting teacher. She taught 201 and 202, and I thought she was great. I took Dr. (J Riley) Shaw’s tax course, Dr. (Mark) Wilder who’s now the dean, and I remember Dr. (Morris) Stocks.”
In college, Golding interviewed with Deloitte and Touche and was hired to intern with the Big 4 accounting firm. Though she described the experience as “very overwhelming,” she believes she’s always been well suited to the profession.
“I’ve always excelled in math and numbers. When I was little, I played Monopoly a lot and I always wanted to be the banker to control the money. I think I’ve just been inclined to be in accounting since childhood,” she said, adding that she prefers the pace of teaching to that of private practice.
The new 100,000-square-foot PSOA building will be constructed at the intersection of University Avenue and Grove Loop and overlook the university’s iconic Grove. The facility will centralize classes into one building and feature tiered auditoriums and classrooms, study areas, conference rooms, administrative and facility office suites, and outdoor balconies and terraces.
Carolyn and Pete Golding met in Cleveland, where he played football for Delta State University. The couple has three children: a daughter, 6, and two sons, 9 and 12.
For more information on supporting the Patterson School Building Fund, contact Jason McCormick, executive director for development, at jason@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1757.
By Bill Dabney/UM Foundation