AICPA names 2016 Elijah Watt Sells Award winners

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) announced on Tuesday the winners of the 2016 Elijah Watt Sells Award, awarded to CPA candidates who scored above 95.50 across the four sections of the CPA Exam, passed the four sections on their first attempt, and completed their testing in 2016.

A reported 102,323 test-takers sat for the Exam in 2016, with just 58 Elijah Watt Sells Award recipients in all.

“The CPA Examination, along with the education and experience required sets a high bar for entry into the profession. This serves to protect the public interest by ensuring that only qualified individuals earn a CPA license,” said Michael Decker, the AICPA's vice president of examinations, per a statement. “On behalf of the AICPA, I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners of the Elijah Watt Sells award on their outstanding accomplishment and wish them the best of luck in their careers.”

Below are the 2016 Elijah Watt Sells Award winners, listed in alphabetical order, as well as their state board of accountancy affiliation and current employer:

• Daniel Russell Bierley (Michigan) - EY in Detroit, Mich.
• Kevin Branley (Louisiana) - Deloitte in New Orleans, La.
• Paige Burkard (New York) - EY in Buffalo, N.Y.
• Mingyue “Estella” Chu (California) - Deloitte in Los Angeles, Calif.
• Shannon Costello (Texas) - Deloitte in Dallas, Texas.
• Kelly Coyne (New Jersey) - Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in Norwalk, Conn.
• Andrew Debbink (Wisconsin) - Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in Norwalk, Conn.
• Anthony DePiano (Massachusetts) - RSM US in Boston, Mass.
• James Scott Deuschle (Massachusetts) - PwC in Boston, Mass.
• Sydney Engelke (Texas) - KPMG in Houston, Texas.
• Kayla Elizabeth Gawlik (Michigan) - KPMG in New York, N.Y.
• Madeline Hartman (Massachusetts) - Grant Thornton in Boston, Mass.
• Ryan Russell Herrscher (Texas) - PwC in Dallas, Texas.
• Matthew Holt (South Carolina) - EY in Greenville, S.C.
• Amanda Jacinto (New York) - PwC in New York, N.Y.
• Bradley Jergensen (Florida) - Deloitte in Tampa, Fla.
• Anthony Joffre (Florida) - KPMG in Miami, Fla.
• Peter Kampf (Ohio) - Cohen & Company in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Sahand Kargosha (Virginia) - EY in Tysons, Va.
• Alexander Khan (New York) - Deloitte in New York, N.Y.
• Patrick Kmieciak (Florida) - PwC in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Kathleen Koehl (Illinois) - RSM US in Chicago, Ill.
• Dena Konneker (North Carolina) - RSM US in Raleigh, N.C.
• Harvey Arvin Li (Washington) - Deloitte in Seattle, Wash.
• Joseph Kane Mader (Texas) - Texas Health and Human Services Commission in Austin, Texas.
• Rosemary Michelle Mantel (Georgia) - RSM US in Atlanta, Ga.
• Kelly McHugh (Illinois) - EY in Chicago, Ill.
• Chu Bing Sabrina McMullin (Kansas) - YRC Worldwide in Overland Park, Kan.
• Kevin Montminy (Pennsylvania) - KPMG in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Taylor Moore (Oregon) - Intel Corporation in Aloha, Ore.
• Mitchell Charles Morse (Missouri) - KPMG, LLP in Kansas City, Mo.
• Christopher Parsons (Pennsylvania) - PwC in New York, N.Y.
• Ryan Perez (Pennsylvania) - Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz in Camp Hill, Pa.
• Georgina Prataviera (Argentina) - Deloitte in Cordoba, Argentina.
• Kimberly Pugliese (California) - EY in San Francisco, Calif.
• Jeff Pullen (Iowa) - KPMG in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Renata Raisanen (Minnesota) - Lurie in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Louis Rizzuto (Illinois) - PwC in Chicago, Ill.
• Devenie Ross (Kansas) - RubinBrown in Kansas City, Mo.
• Corey Shubiak (New Jersey) - PwC in Florham Park, N.J.
• Samuel Siegel (Pennsylvania) - Stanilla, Siegel, and Maser in Lebanon, Pa.
• Charles Sims (Texas) - EY in Houston, Texas.
• Abigail Singley (New York) - PwC in New York, N.Y.
• Andrew Smith (Texas) - KPMG in Dallas, Texas.
• Leighton Mark Smith (Washington) - Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash.
• Olivia Spooner (Massachusetts) - RSM US in Boston, Mass.
• Sarah Stang (Illinois) - KPMG in Chicago, Ill.
• Liyuan Su (Virginia) - Fannie Mae in Washington, DC.
• Olga Timirgalieva (Florida) - McNichols Company in Tampa, Fla.
• Rachel Weeks (New York) - EY in New York, N.Y.
• Christopher Whittall (Pennsylvania) - KPMG in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Kevin Samuel Wilson (New York) - PwC in New York, N.Y.
• Brian Wright (Pennsylvania) - PwC in Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Ying Wu (New Jersey) - Deloitte in Parsippany, N.J.
• Xiaoyi Yan (Hong Kong) - HSBC in Hong Kong, China.
• Jing Zhang (New York) - EY in New York, N.Y.
• Marina Zhiltsov (California) - EY in San Jose, Calif.

For more on the Elijah Watt Sells Award, head to the AICPA's site here.