AICPA Awards 5 Ezzell Scholarships to Pursue Accounting PhDs

The American Institute of CPAs Foundation awarded the 2021 William (Bill) Ezzell Scholarships to five CPAs pursuing doctorates in accounting.

The William (Bill) Ezzell Scholarship program provides a one-time award of $10,000 to five outstanding accounting Ph.D. candidates who demonstrate significant potential to become mentors for the next generation of CPAs. The scholarship honors the late Ezzell’s passion for the profession and recognizes his belief that the best way to encourage the next generation of CPAs was to put educators in the classroom with relevant and recent real-world experience.

“Educators that bring current in-the-field experience as CPAs are able to uniquely share their knowledge with accounting students. Bill believed that an essential part of accounting education was blending the feel of real-life experiences with the traditional classroom learning,” said Ernie Almonte, CPA, CGMA, AICPA Foundation president. “We are happy to help these five recipients complete their educations so they can help cultivate the next generation of accounting professionals.”

Recipients of the 2021 William (Bill) Ezzell Scholarship, along with their areas and institutes of study:

• Amy Garman: Ph.D. in Financial Accounting Research, University of Kansas
• Erik Harvey: Ph.D. in Behavioral Research in Auditing and Financial Accounting, Cornell University
• Taylor James: Ph.D. in Accounting, University of Southern California
• Patrick Kmieciak: Ph.D. in Accounting, University of Florida
• Anthony Welsch: Ph.D. in Accounting/Taxation, The University of Texas at Austin

The William (Bill) Ezzell scholarship is available to CPAs in the United States with at least three years of professional accounting experience and an undergraduate or master’s degree in accounting. Applicants must also intend to teach or conduct research at an accredited university following the completion of their Ph.D. program.

Ezzell was a former chairman of the AICPA Board of Directors, past president of its Foundation Board and recipient of the AICPA’s 2009 Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service. He spearheaded the creation of the Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) programs and helped raise $17 million to increase the number of Ph.D.s in accounting and tax.

The William (Bill) Ezzell Scholarship Program, along with ADS and the AICPA Fellowship for Minority Doctoral Students, are designed to ensure a healthy pipeline of accounting educators.

More information about the William (Bill) Ezzell Scholarship, as well as information about how to apply, is available on the AICPA’s website.