Institute provides $300,000 in funding to promoting diversity in higher education
New York (Oct. 31, 2018) – Continuing their efforts to foster diversity among accounting faculty, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has awarded its annual Minority Doctoral Fellowship. Each of this year’s recipients will be given $12,000 to aid them on their journey towards becoming accounting professors and serve as role models to future CPAs.
“By providing these Fellowships, the AICPA is helping to build a more diverse accounting profession,” said Steve Matzke, director of faculty and university initiatives at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants “The AICPA believes that a workforce better reflecting the communities it serves will position the profession to serve their clients well into the future.”
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Ryan Ballestero
“The fellowship allows me to really focus on being successful in my program as I work towards my goal of becoming a university educator,” said Ryan Ballestero, a CPA working toward his Ph.D. in accounting at the University of Texas-Austin and a 2019-2019 Minority Doctoral Fellowship recipient. “Through the annual AICPA networking event, the fellowship has provided me with an opportunity to connect with other students and faculty who have a similar background and career path as me.”
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AICPA Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program
The 2018-2019 Minority Doctoral Fellowship recipients are listed below along with the doctoral program they are attending:
- Ryan C. Ballestero, University of Texas-Austin
- Joye L. (Baugh) Norwood, Jackson State University
- Candice Boucree, Louisiana State University
- Jerome D. Conley, University of Tennessee
- LaToya Flint, University of Mississippi
- Danielle Gant, Texas Tech University
- Claudia C. Hernandez, Florida International University
- Andria Hill, University of Central Florida
- Brittani Shantel Jackson, Indiana University
- Ethan LaMothe, University of South Carolina
- Carissa Malone, Virginia Tech University
- Ann Mungai, Florida Atlantic University
- Patricia Navarro-Velez, University of Central Florida
- Christian S. Paparcuri, Arizona State University
- Clay Partridge, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Iguehi Rajsky, Temple University
- Edgar Rodriguez, University of Washington
- Giovani Rodriguez Martinez, Texas Tech University
- Andrea Rozario, Rutgers University
- Christina Ruiz Mueller, Arizona State University
- Nuria Seijas, University of Arizona
- Syrena Shirley, Pennsylvania State University
- Phylicia G. Taylor, Jackson State University
- Andrea Tillet, Florida State University
- Kimberly Walker, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Minority Doctoral Fellowship is one of several AICPA initiatives aimed at cultivating a diverse and inclusive accounting profession. All Minority Doctoral Fellows must be ethnic minorities and U.S. citizens or permanent residents, who have earned a master’s degree or worked at least three years full-time in the accounting profession.
The 2019-20 application will be available on March 1st, 2019. A full list of requirements and information about other scholarship awards offered to accounting students are available at ThisWaytoCPA.
The Minority Doctoral Fellowships are funded by the AICPA Foundation.