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Leaving Their Legacy Thanks to the continued support of our alumni and friends, our students can achieve their goals and unlock a world of opportunities! Dunagin’s $1M estate gift will benefit students of accountancy and law A $1 million bequest continues a University of Mississippi graduate’s dedication to helping others succeed. The late Martin Dunagin of Houston, Texas, and Oxford, Mississippi, wanted students in the Patterson School of Accountancy and the UM School of Law to benefit from his gift, which supplements endowments he created in 2019 — the C. Martin Dunagin, Jr. Accountancy Scholarship Endowment and the C. Martin Dunagin, Jr. Oral Advocacy Team Support Endowment — and provides additional support. Dunagin, who earned UM degrees in accountancy and law in 1982 and 1985 respectively, died of cancer on Feb. 2, 2022, at his Oxford home. At the time, he was vice president and chief tax executive for Hess Corp. in Houston. Gamot Estate Gift Creates Oral Advocacy Endowment Two Florida trial lawyers who were passionate about their work will be remembered through the Gamot Oral Advocacy Endowment at the University of Mississippi School of Law. An estate gift of almost $79,000 from the late Melinda Gamot, wife of the late Albert Gamot, created the endowment to support the Moot Court Board teams in the law school and represent the couple’s values and love of Ole Miss. “They both strived for professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior and good trial work. I believe that’s a perfect place for the resources to go because the students will learn to love trial work,” said attorney Nicole Gamot of her father and stepmother, with whom she practiced law. Gift to Law School Expands Thompson Family Legacy For Helene Thompson and those close to her, the University of Mississippi’s School of Law has become something of a familial rite of passage. Thompson, a 1968 graduate of the school, has established the Thompson Family Law Endowment, with an initial gift of $100,000 and an additional generous gift. She and her late husband, Luther Thompson, met in law school. The endowment honors the legacy the Thompsons have with the university and those in the family who attended the school before and after the couple’s time there. Susan Duncan, the school’s dean and a law professor, added, “Thanks to Helene, we will be able to provide an even more enriching educational experience for students.” Helene Thompson of Jackson, Mississippi, was drawn to the law school on the advice of her grandfather, the late James McClure of Sardis, Mississippi, a 1917 graduate of the program. 31