Messenger - Vol. 4, No. 1, Page 19
1994
B&E alumni receive Awards of Excellence at Homecoming '94

     Three accounting graduates of the College of Business and
Economics received Alumni Awards of Excellence, which recognize career
achievement, contributions to the business field and the community and
a commitment to excellence.
     Joseph H. Fisher, Delaware '66 of West Simsbury, Conn., W. Robert
Knechel, Delaware '77, of Gainesville, Fla., and Emily-May Richards,
Delaware '69, of La Quinta, Calif., received their awards in a
ceremony held during the college's Homecoming festivities, Oct. 22.
     Fisher, who is special assistant to the president for financial
and administrative affairs at the University of Hartford, began his
career at the Philadelphia office of KPMG Peat Marwick in 1966.
Elected to partnership in 1974, he was instrumental in establishing
the firm's Wilmington, Del., office, which he led. In 1983, he moved
to Hartford, Conn., where he had responsibility for offices in New
Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass.
     Currently Ernst & Young Professor of Accounting at the University
of Florida in Gainesville, Knechel is also director of research for
the Center for Accounting Research and Professional Education there.
After serving as a staff auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co., Knechel
received his doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, and joined the University of Florida in 1981. He received
an Audit Research Fellowship from KPMG Peat Marwick for 1991-93.
     On Nov. 1, Richards, founder and owner of the Richards Group,
P.C., a certified public accounting firm, became corporate controller
of KSL Recreation Corp. in La Quinta, Calif. Earlier in her career,
she worked for First Atlanta Corp. (now Wachovia Corp.) for 14 years.
Richards is past president of Financial Women International and was
appointed to the board of governors of the Georgia World Congress
Center, serving in various capacities from 1980-89. She holds an MBA
and is a graduate of the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana
State University.
     Also at the ceremony, the third John F. Puglisi Scholarship was
presented to University senior Nina Sartori of Rockaway, N.J. Enrolled
in the University Honors Program, Sartori is majoring in operations
management and marketing and has a 3.8 grade point average. She also
has been a University tour guide and is an academic adviser in the
college's advisement center.
     The John F. Puglisi Scholarship was established by Donald J.
Puglisi, MBNA America Business Professor, to honor his father's
commitment to the values of education, athletics and community
service. The recipient must be an incoming senior in accounting,
finance or business administration.