CPA Resources
CPA Resources

Two Virginia CPAs among top 10 exam scorers for '08

NEW YORK, July 22, 2009 -– Two KPMG employees in Washington D.C. are among the 10 winners of the AICPA's 2008 Elijah Watt Sells Awards, which honor the CPA candidates who earned the highest scores on the CPA exam last year.

Jennifer Renee Clifton, a graduate of the University of Virginia with a BS in commerce and a master’s degree in accounting, and Sheriann Wirkkala, a graduate of Gonzaga University with a BS in business administration and a master’s in accountancy, both of whom are employed by KPMG in Washington, are among the most recent winners.

The awards are presented annually to the 10 candidates earning the highest cumulative scores on the four sections of the computerized Uniform CPA Examination. These candidates must have completed testing during the previous calendar year and passed each exam section on their first attempt.

More than 85,000 individuals sat for the exam in 2008.

The other winners are:

  • Stanley J. Gordon Jr. (Utah), a graduate of Utah Valley University with a BS in accounting and a master's in accountancy from Brigham Young University. He is currently employed with Wisan, Smith, Racker & Prescot in Salt Lake City.
  • Brad Hocking (North Carolina), a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a BS in business administration. He is currently working for Deloitte & Touche LLP in Charlotte.
  • Christopher Michael Leon (Missouri), a graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a BS in accounting. He is planning to create a successful public accounting practice and develop his talents into a career in consulting.
  • Jennifer Rachel Luchs (Wisconsin), a graduate of Marquette University with a BS in business administration. She is currently employed by Deloitte Tax LLP in Milwaukee.
  • Clint Presley (Texas), a graduate of McNeese State University with a BS in accounting and a master’s of education in sports administration from Wichita State University. He is currently employed by Moore, Reichl & Baker, P.C. in Houston.
  • Leslie Johnson Rezgui (Colorado), a graduate of Yale University with a BA and a master’s of accounting and financial management from DeVry University. She is currently working for The Spectranetics Corporation in Colorado Springs, Colo.
  • Gabriel Vaughan (Texas), a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas with a BS, an MBA and a master’s in accounting and information management. He is currently working for FelCor Lodging Trust, Inc. in Irving, Texas.
  • Tyler S. Wright (Missouri), a graduate of Missouri State University with a BSBA and a master’s of accountancy, is currently working for KPMG LLP in Kansas City.

The AICPA created the award to honor Elijah Watt Sells in 1923. Sells was one of the country’s first CPAs under the provision of a New York State law enacted in 1896 and a leader in advancing professional education. He was active in the establishment of the AICPA and was a founder of New York University’s School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance. He died in 1924.

Launched in 2004, the computerized version of the Uniform CPA achieved 1 million administrations in July.

For more information on the exam, visit www.cpa-exam.org.

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