The KPMG Foundation awarded a total of $450,000 in scholarships to minority accounting doctoral students for the 2013-14 academic year.
The awardees include 11 new recipients and 34 students whose scholarships, each valued at $10,000 and renewable annually for up to five years, were renewed.
“The KPMG Foundation is proud of the very positive influence it has had in helping to increase the number of diverse faculty members at our nation’s colleges and universities,” said Jose Rodriguez, KPMG Foundation chairperson, in a statement. “The Minority Accounting Doctoral Scholarship will play a critical role in transforming these 45 talented students into educators who will shape tomorrow’s business leaders.”
Since 1994, the KPMG Foundation has awarded more than $15 million to 320 African American, Hispanic American and Native American scholars pursuing doctoral degrees in its commitment to increase the representation of minority students and professors in business schools. Of the program’s recipients, 213 have successfully completed their doctoral programs and are professors in U.S. universities.
Additionally, the foundation supports the PhD Project, a related program with the goal of increasing the diversity of business school faculty and which has, since its creation in 1994, increased the number of minority business professors from 294 to 1,230. There are also currently 336 minority doctoral student members of the PhD Project.
“Business leaders realize success by understanding the complexities of a global marketplace,” stated Rebecca P. Sproul, KPMG’s national managing partner of university relations and recruiting. “These lessons begin in the classroom and diverse educational environments provide future leaders with the perspective that is necessary to thrive in their professions.”
