Ernst & Young Professorship of Accounting

The accounting firm Ernst & Young established this fund to support an endowed professorship in the Fisher School of Accounting. Born in Scotland in 1863 and a graduate of Glasgow University, Arthur Young was privileged and soft-spoken. His interest in investments and banking eventually led him to accounting. He migrated to the United States, settled in Chicago, and in 1906 founded Arthur Young & Company.

In contrast, the outgoing A.C. Ernst, born in 1881 in Cleveland, was self made. Following high school, he worked as a bookkeeper and four years later in 1903 joined with his brother, Theodore, to start Ernst & Ernst. Both firms were quick to enter the global marketplace.

Ironically, A.C. Ernst and Arthur Young, who never met in life, died within days of each other in 1948. In 1989, the firms they started combined to create Ernst & Young. The new organization quickly positioned itself on the leading edge of rapid globalization, new business technologies and continuous business change.