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Here Are the 40 Elijah Watt Sells Award Winners for 2023

Forty out of more than 86,000 candidates who sat for the CPA exam last year were recently honored for their high scores.

Jason Bramwell

Jun. 11, 2024

The AICPA last week announced the 40 winners of the 2023 Elijah Watt Sells Award, granted to CPA candidates who obtain a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, pass all four sections of the exam on their first attempt, and completed testing in 2023.

According to the AICPA, more than 86,000 individuals sat for the CPA exam last year.

“The CPA exam is a rigorous test, and these individuals performed extraordinarily well,” Mike Decker, AICPA vice president, CPA examination and pipeline, said in a statement. “They deserve the heartiest of congratulations for their achievement, and we at the AICPA look forward to supporting these accountants as they continue on to a bright future in the profession.”

The Elijah Watt Sells Award program was established by the AICPA in 1923 to recognize outstanding performance on the CPA exam, as well as to honor Sells, one of the country’s first CPAs and a founding member of the firm now known as Deloitte. Sells was active in the establishment of the AICPA and played a significant role in advancing education within the profession.

The following are the 2023 Sells Award winners in alphabetical order, followed by their board of accountancy affiliation and their present employer (where applicable):

  • Roger Babin, Massachusetts, KPMG in Boston.
  • Harrison Baker, Utah, Ledgenomics in Salt Lake City.
  • Owen Berry, Florida, employed with Ennis, Pellum & Associates CPAs in Jacksonville.
  • Matthew Blomquist, Georgia, Southern Company in Atlanta.
  • Dylan Boone, Ohio, Plante Moran in Cincinnati.
  • Alan Brandon, North Carolina, Deloitte in Raleigh.
  • Elise Chase, Massachusetts and Utah, with Deloitte in Salt Lake City.
  • Julian Chase, Massachusetts, PwC in Boston.
  • Nathaniel Day, Tennessee, Deloitte in Chicago.
  • Eleanor DeNunzio, Illinois, EY in Chicago.
  • Reece Diloreto, Florida, EY in Tampa.
  • Jared Dunnett, Illinois, Shore Capital Partners in Chicago.
  • Ryan Durbin, Texas, KPMG in Dallas.
  • Sarah Falkin, Florida, KPMG in New York.
  • Yesenia Garcia, Texas, Calvetti Ferguson in San Antonio.
  • Cal Granite, Illinois, RSM US in Chicago.
  • Chris Hudson, Texas, KPMG in Houston.
  • Parker Jackson, Utah, KPMG in Salt Lake City.
  • Anthony Kearl, Montana, TELUS in Calgary, Alberta.
  • Bradley Koch, Kansas, Koch CPA, Chartered in Clyde, KS.
  • Will Koehler, Wisconsin, KPMG in Milwaukee.
  • Vineet Kotak, Washington, PwC in Philadelphia.
  • Jack Krause, Georgia, Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, CT.
  • Joshua Kritzer, Illinois, PwC in Chicago.
  • Esther Eleanna Lee (Weissman), Maryland, Ernst & Young in Virginia.
  • Bryant Lin, New York, in PwC in New York City.
  • Michelle Lin, Illinois, PwC in Chicago.
  • Sachin Mall, Guam.
  • Kelly McCarty, Colorado, KPMG in Denver.
  • Khushbu Mittal, California, Deloitte in Gurgaon, India.
  • Nechama Nakdimen (Maiman), New York, SmallBiz Outsource LLC in Inwood.
  • Jared Plattman, New York, KPMG in New York.
  • Paul Poliakov, Washington, PwC in Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Brandon Rooney, Tennessee, EY in Nashville.
  • Tina Sarkissian, California, KPMG in Los Angeles.
  • Tyler Thimjon, Illinois, EY in Chicago.
  • Thanh Tran, Texas, Alvarez and Marsal Tax in Houston.
  • Hannah Van Meeteren, South Dakota, CliftonLarsonAllen in Des Moines, IA.
  • Sara Woodward, New York, Flaherty Salmin CPAs in Rochester.
  • Jack Wyatt, Alabama, Deloitte in London, England.