Frederick S. Addy graduated from MSU in 1953 with a BA degree in Business Administration and an ROTC commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. He met his wife, Marilyn (MSU ’53 Music), in their freshman year at MSU, and they married in 1954. Addy served for two years as an interceptor controller and as a First Lieutenant and commander of a radar installation on an island in the Sea of Japan during the Korean War. After his military service, Addy, Marilyn, and their 1-year-old daughter returned to MSU, where he earned an MBA degree in Finance in 1957. Upon completion of the MBA, Addy joined Standard Oil of Indiana in Chicago, later named Amoco, as a financial analyst. Addy rose through the corporate structure of Amoco and in 1989 was named Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and a Director of the company. He held that position until retirement in 1994, at which time he and Marilyn moved to Austin, Texas. In retirement they enjoyed spending time with their three children, 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and attending the Austin Opera, which they supported.
Crediting his MSU education as a key to his success in the business world, Addy and Marilyn gave generously to MSU throughout the years. In 1997 they funded the first of many endowed faculty positions by establishing the Frederick S. Addy Distinguished Chair in Finance. In 2000, they established the Frederick S. Addy Distinguished Chair in Economics. In interviews from 2000 and 2015, Addy explained his motivation for establishing endowed chairs: “My intention with the endowed chairs is to help MSU attract and retain the highest quality educators possible. I chose Finance because it is my degree. I decided to put a Chair in the Economics Department because I realized in my business career how important economics was. In my opinion, economics is the most important part of a Chief Financial Officer’s background.” Addy only stipulated one condition for the Addy endowed Chairs: “Addy Chairs are expected to teach at least one undergraduate course per year so that undergraduate students will benefit from the expertise an Addy Chair holder brings to the university. MSU is my university and I want it to be great.” Addy and Marilyn regularly returned to campus for homecoming weekend and enjoyed meeting with the faculty that hold Addy endowed positions. Addy took great pleasure in seeing the impact of his gifts.
From 1997 through 2024, the Addys established, through gifts totaling in excess of $10 million, two endowed Addy Professorships in Finance, an endowed Addy Chair in Finance, and four endowed Addy Chairs in Economics. In 2021, one of Addy’s last gifts was to establish a $1 million endowment to fund the Marilyn Addy Teacher Scholar Award to honor Marilyn’s legacy as an educator while supporting excellence in economics education at MSU for current and future generations of students. The Marilyn Addy Teacher Scholar Award is currently held for two years by an Economics faculty member who excels at undergraduate teaching and research scholarship.