Vivian Vereen, wife of the late Colonel Lindsey H. Vereen, has made a significant donation to Coastal Carolina University's E. Craig Wall Sr. School of Business Administration to fund the Colonel Lindsey H. Vereen Endowed Business Chair. This is the first endowed chair established at Coastal named in honor of a former faculty member.

The business chair will work closely with the dean of the School and the Board of Visitors to further the mission of the Wall School of Business and Coastal.

Vereen, who died in June 1995, was a member of the Coastal faculty, serving as assistant professor of business administration from 1966 to 1977.

Born in Wauchula, Fla., Vereen was raised on a farm just outside Little River, S.C. He graduated from Wampee High School where he excelled in academics and basketball. He received a scholarship to The Citadel where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1936.

Following graduation, Vereen was commissioned a second lieutenant and served as assistant commandant for The Citadel. He attended flying school in San Antonio, Texas, and in 1940 was awarded a regular commission in the Army Air Corps. During World War II he led bombing runs over Japan from the island of Guam. Vereen earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Bronze Star and other medals.

Vereen remained with the Army Air Corps (later the U.S. Air Force) following World War II as a career officer. In 1951 the Air Force sent him to the University of Pittsburgh where he received a master's degree in industrial management. In the late 1950s he was transferred to the U.S. Air Force Headquarters in Europe where he assumed the role of director of War Plans. His career included two stints in the Strategic Air Command. Vereen was also base commander at Chennault Air Force Base in Lake Charles, La., for two years.