Couple's Estate Gift to Benefit Accounting Department

It was April 1931 when Evelyn Hull, a junior at the University of Wisconsin, and Lindsay Boyle, a senior, went on a blind date. Their first meeting would set the stage for the next 60 years of their lives together and result in a lasting legacy that will benefit the Department of Accounting and Information Systems.

Thanks to the couple’s generosity, the Lindsay Boyle Fund for Excellence in Accounting will support both students and faculty in the Accounting Department. The fund was recently created from the proceeds of an estate gift from Evelyn Hull Boyle. The late Mrs. Boyle, who died in April 2003, had been supporting accounting students since 1997, when she established the Lind-say R. Boyle Scholarship Fund in honor of her late husband, a UW-Madison accounting alumnus.

Lindsay Boyle came to UW-Madison in 1927 from Marengo, Ill. He graduated in 1931. It was during the Depression and jobs were scarce. Haskins & Sells, one of the country’s most prestigious accounting firms, was recruiting on campus and offered him a position in New York City with the promise that if the job didn’t work out, his fare back to the Midwest would be provided. The job did work out, and he spent his entire career with Haskins & Sells, now known as Deloitte & Touche, becoming a partner in 1947 and remaining in the New York office until his retirement in 1972.

Evelyn Hull graduated from UW-Madison in 1933 with a B.S. in mathematics and earned an M.A. in mathematics in 1935. After graduation, her first job took her to New York City, where she became office manager for the American Mathematical Society housed at Columbia University. Lindsay and Evelyn were married in 1937, and the couple settled in Bronxville, N.Y., until their retirement, when they enjoyed spending their winters in Naples, Fla.

Mr. Boyle had made annual gifts in support of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. When he died in April 1996, Mrs. Boyle established a scholarship fund in the department to honor her late husband and his career.

While at Haskins & Sells, Mr. Boyle had been responsible for quality control for the fi rm and often returned to campus to recruit accounting majors, as he had high regard for the reputation of the department. The scholarship fund was created to enable talented students to realize and pursue careers in the accounting field.

Mrs. Boyle was extremely fond of UW-Madison and especially the School of Business. Accounting Professor Larry Rittenberg has warm memories of her, recalling her as “a very elegant person who really wanted this gift to go toward the long-term betterment of the department. I’m glad she had the faith and trust in us that we would use it for that purpose.”

The gift comes at a time when the university and the School of Business are embarking on Create the Future: The Wisconsin Campaign, which aspires to raise $1.5 billion campus wide through the end of 2006. The estate gift, which totals $2.6 million to date, will enable the Accounting Department to provide scholarships for outstanding students. It will also provide faculty awards to attract, develop and retain exceptional professors to be known as Lindsay Boyle Fellows. Accounting students and faculty in the years ahead will be grateful benefi ciaries of Evelyn Boyle’s generosity honoring Lindsay Boyle’s legacy.