AICPA Foundation awards minority doctoral fellowships

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.