The College of Business and Social Sciences gained a new school on Tuesday when ULM unveiled the William D. Hoover School of Accounting, Financial and Information Services. 

The announcement for the school was made in 2019, along with an endowment scholarship of the same name, but on Tuesday the school officially unveiled its place in Hemphill Hall.

The school was named for ULM graduate William D. “Bill” Hoover. 

Hoover’s family attended the ceremony to officially open the new school. It will provide a more focused degree path for students in accounting and financial and information services. 

The plaque at the entrance of the new school gives more information about Hoover. He was a Korean War veteran and a certified public accountant. Hoover believed his time at ULM was “invaluable,” and his financial contributions would give “many young people the opportunity to obtain their college degrees and to enjoy the successes in life that a ULM degree can provide.” 

Hoover worked as a CPA for Lumen, formerly known as CenturyLink, and helped to provide more job opportunities for northeast Louisiana when the company found a home on the Bayou. The school allows Hoover to continue this work by providing students with a professional education and giving professors an opportunity for research and growth. 

In 2019, Ronald Berry, then dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences, commented on Hoover. “There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Hoover’s legacy is going to have a significant impact on the future,” Berry said.

Creating a specific school for these majors will allow students and professors to compete for scholarships and research grants, giving the accounting and finance majors more opportunities.

Senior accounting major Connor Stanfill said he “loves” the new school. “Everything that has a building has some sort of finance person behind it,” Stanfill said. “The world would not run without business and accounting.”