AICPA Foundation awards minority doctoral fellowships

September 29, 2015, 1:23 p.m. EDT 2 Min Read

To help increase the number of CPAs from diverse backgrounds teaching and serving as role models at the college and university level, the AICPA has awarded 22 scholars the Minority Doctoral Fellowship, the Institute announced on Tuesday.

Funded by the AICPA Foundation, the Fellowship provides $12,000 each to full-time minority accounting scholars who have demonstrated the potential to become accounting educators.　

"One of the best ways to encourage diversity in our profession to ensure that there is diversity among accounting educators," stated Kim Drumgo, AICPA director of diversity and inclusion and vice chair of the National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. "The Minority Doctoral Fellowship recognizes these outstanding students and helps them on their path to becoming educators and mentors of the profession’s future leaders.”

The 2015-2016 AICPA Minority Doctoral Fellowship recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:　

Herita Akamah, University of Oklahoma
Maurice Atkinson, Michigan State University
Joye Baugh, Jackson State University
Lydia Didia, Jackson State University
Brent Garza, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Michelle Harding, The University of Virginia
Oscar Harvin, Florida Atlantic University
Chevonne Herring, University of Mississippi
Ethan LaMothe, University of South Carolina
Thomas Lewis, Jr., Virginia Commonwealth University
Makila C. A. Major, University of Memphis
Sydnee Manley, University of Mississippi
Christopher Alan Miller, University of Mississippi
Patricia Navarro, University of Central Florida
Porschia Nkansa, University of Memphis
Christian Simon Paparcuri, Arizona State University
Rebeca Perez, University of Oregon
Andrea Rozario, Rutgers University
Syrena Shirley, Penn State University
Justin Cole Short, University of Tennessee
Kecia Smith, Texas A&M University
Kimberly Rochelle Walker, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"The recipients of the AICPA Minority Doctoral Fellowship are helping to secure the future of the profession," said Steve Matzke, AICPA director of college and university initiatives, in a statement. "On behalf of the AICPA, we congratulate them on their hard work and wish them success on their journey to becoming educators."
The Minority Doctoral Fellowship is open to those who have obtained or plan to pursue a CPA license. They must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Additional requirements are available online.

Qualified candidates may apply on the AICPA website. The 2016-17 application will be available in March 2016, with an application deadline of May 15, 2016. For more information, email academics@aicpa.org.