Accounting historians notebook, 2014, Vol. 37, no. 2 (October)

              The Accounting Historians Notebook, October 2014 1
Vol. 37, No. 2 © Academy of Accounting Historians October 2014
The Accounting
Historians Notebook
Academy Loses Past President, Life Member, Edward N. Coffman
Edward “Ed” Coffman grew up in the small town of West Point, Virginia. After graduating from high school he worked at the local paper mill with other mem-bers of his family, including his father. When Coffman decided to attend college in 1962, he became the first in his family to do so.
At Virginia Commonwealth University, Coffman met fellow undergraduate Ed-
ward L. Flippen, now an attorney with McGuireWoods and a former rector of the VCU Board of Visitors. The two re-mained close friends for 52 years.
“There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his family and friends,” Flippen said. “Ed always put others first, and yet, at the same time, he was able to be highly ac-complished, doing his job effectively and efficiently. Not surprisingly, he was very popular with students, and developed strong relationships with the faculty.
“As highly accomplished as Ed was, he never bragged [about himself]. He bragged about his family, he bragged about his friends. He bragged about his VCU colleagues. He was the most hum-ble person I have ever known.”
After earning both undergraduate and master's degrees at VCU, Coffman taught in the Department of Accounting from 1966 to 1968. He left to pursue his doc-torate at George Washington University, but in 1970 returned to his teaching posi-tion at the School of Business, where he
spent the rest of his career. In total, Coffman taught in the Department of
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