“He was a fervent Aggie,” said David Donnelly, partner in the accounting firm of Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches (GD&D), of his long-time friend and business partner Sam Svoboda, a 1982 graduate of Texas A&M. Svoboda had worked with the firm since 1993 and passed away unexpectedly in May. His legacy lives on, however, in the Sam C. Svoboda ’82 Endowed Scholarship Fund for Aggie Accounting Majors -- established at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School with a $50,000 gift from his friends, clients and colleagues at GD&D.

“It is truly wonderful when one individual touches the lives of others in such a way that they are willing to honor his memory through such a generous gift,” said Ricky Griffin, interim dean of Mays. “Future Aggie accounting majors will have the opportunity to pursue their own dreams with the support of this endowment.”

Svoboda joined GD&D as an audit manager and became a partner in July of 2000. Under his guidance as the firm's director of audit services, the audit practice expanded to include four partners and 22 staff members. Svoboda's leadership in the firm also included his role as a member of the three-person executive committee and his management of the firm’s financial reporting and cash flow.

“He was not only a leader in the firm, but a leader in the profession,” said Donnelly. Through this gift, Donnelly hopes to honor the memory of his colleague while establishing a more dynamic relationship between Mays Business School and GD&D, in fitting with Svoboda’s Aggie spirit.

Based in Houston, Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches, LLP is a certified public accounting firm providing highly personalized and comprehensive tax, audit and business consulting services to privately held businesses and individuals. With special expertise in construction, energy, healthcare, manufacturing and real estate markets, GD&D serves a diverse clientele from multinational corporations with gross revenues in excess of $1 billion to small business owners and individuals.

Mays Business School currently enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate students and 875 graduate students. Mays is nationally ranked among public business schools for the quality of its undergraduate program, MBA program and the faculty scholarship of its 105 professors in five departments.

For more information, contact Chrystal Houston at chrystal.houston@tamu.edu.