A Western Carolina University alumnus has provided gifts totaling more than $15,000 to establish the latest in a series of faculty fellowships designed to reward the top professors teaching in Western’s College of Business.

Ronald “Jerry” Johnson Jr., senior vice president and regional director for UBS PaineWebber in Nashville, Tenn., has donated funds to launch the Johnson Family Fellowship for outstanding performance in the field of computer information systems. The three-year fellowship includes an annual salary stipend of $3,500 to the recipient and $1,000 to fund faculty professional development activities.

Johnson is a 1978 graduate of Western with a bachelor of business administration degree in marketing. He and his wife, Salli, live in Louisville, Ky. They have five children.

The first recipient of the fellowship is Debasish Banerjee, assistant professor of computer information systems at Western. Banerjee, a member of WCU’s faculty since 1996, earned his doctorate from the University of Arkansas in 1992. His research focuses on the ethical behavior of professionals in the information technology field.