AICPA Announces Scholarship Award Winners

The American Institute of CPAs has announced five recipients of the 2014-15 AICPA John L. Carey Scholarship. The one-year $5,000 scholarship is awarded to students from liberal arts and other non-traditional business backgrounds who are pursuing graduate accounting degrees and plan to become CPAs.

Eric Herrera, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Philip Marx, Northeastern University
Ted Nashland, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Christine Scherder, The College of William & Mary
Marija Zagarins, University of Vermont

Each recipient has received $5,000, which will help cover tuition and other educational expenses. The funding is provided by a contribution to the AICPA Foundation in honor of John L. Carey.

Carey retired from the AICPA in 1969 after a 40-year career with the Institute, where he served as administrative vice president, executive director and editor and publisher of the Journal of Accountancy. Carey was known for encouraging exceptional students from all backgrounds to become CPAs throughout his career, both as a CPA and as a professor at universities in Georgia and Illinois.

“CPAs play a critical role in the economy across a broad spectrum of business functions,” said AICPA Foundation President and former AICPA Chairman Randy Fletchall. “These deserving students will be well served throughout their careers by the different perspective they gained through their undergraduate education.”

Recipients of the John L. Carey Scholarship were selected by a task force that considered applications, academic transcripts, recommendation letters and personal essays. Applicants are chosen based on academic achievement, leadership and commitment to pursuing a CPA license. Additionally, applicants must be full-time graduate level students for the upcoming academic year.

The five John L. Carey Scholarship recipients will become part of the AICPA Legacy Scholars program, which was established in 2011. The Program awards recipients a one-year AICPA Legacy Scholarship and helps them develop the soft skills needed to maintain a successful career through service. Scholarship recipients plan, promote and execute an eight-hour service project each semester. The service activity must relate to accounting, serve the community and be meaningful to the student.

AICPA Legacy Scholars are Student Affiliate Members of the AICPA, which is a free membership option available to all currently enrolled students. Each AICPA Legacy Scholar is assigned a coach to provide guidance on the student’s service project and to advise on questions related to the profession and the work environment.

The application deadline for the 2015-2016 AICPA John L. Carey Scholarship program is April 1, 2015. For more information about this and other AICPA scholarship programs, visit www.aicpa.org/scholarships.