The 2022 SAA Recognition dinner, held at the Rustic Lodge in Indiana, featured two alumni speakers: Anthony Maticic ’19, senior consultant, Gleason, on the left; and Jennifer Brand ’17, senior auditor, PPG Industries, on the right. SAA faculty advisor, Kim Anderson, is in the center.
On April 28, 2022, the IUP Student Accounting Association set another attendance record of 200 at its annual Recognition Dinner held at the Rustic Lodge in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The 200 people in attendance included 92 accounting professionals (81 of whom were IUP alumni) from 50 companies; 12 finance majors and 70 accounting majors; seven high school students; and 19 faculty and administrators. The guest speakers were IUP accounting alumni Jennifer Brand ’17, a senior auditor with PPG Industries; and Anthony Maticic ’19, a senior consultant with Gleason.
The dinner was organized by Kim Anderson, faculty advisor of the SAA, and Kacy McKeel, the SAA senior vice president, who received assistance from the other 2022 SAA officers, including Erin McGrath, president; Yuxin Deng, vice president; Matthew Gulyas, vice president of finance; and the 2021 vice president of finance, Brandon Boyer.
The 2022 SAA Recognition Dinner began with a mingling session. Shown here are two accounting students, Erin McGrath and Dominic Rocco, networking with IUP alumni Dan Simoni ’94, managing partner, PwC-Tulsa, and William Shipley ’75, retired partner, PwC-Pittsburgh.
The evening began at 5:00 p.m. with a one-hour mingling session which provided students with the opportunity to network with professionals. Next, Anderson made opening remarks where she thanked everyone for supporting the SAA, emphasizing the importance of alumni involvement. After the buffet-style dinner, McKeel introduced the first guest speaker, Brand, followed by Maticic.
Brand mentioned that despite the overall decline in IUP’s enrollment over the past five years, the SAA has had “successes, consistency, and growth” over the same time period. She attributed this to several factors, such as the opportunities to network with professionals, develop leadership skills, and engage in social activities.
During the recognition portion of the evening, those being recognized were asked to stand as their names were announced. There was a record turnout for the 2022 SAA Recognition Dinner with a total of 200 in attendance, including 92 accounting professionals (81 of whom were IUP alumni) from 50 companies, 89 students, and 19 faculty and administrators.
Maticic spoke about how his involvement with the SAA provided him “a broad and deep understanding of the accounting profession and the various paths” available to accounting majors. He also told the story of how networking through the SAA while a student led directly to him obtaining his current position with Gleason two years after he graduated from IUP.
Area high school students interested in majoring in accounting in college were invited to the dinner. Students from Penns Manor Area High School attended with their business teacher. From left: Julie Shank, Brock Sleppy, Adelle Alsop Dolney ’07, Allison Johnson, Sabrina Smith, and Deja Gillo.
Following the mingling session, students, faculty, and professionals were seated together at each table for a buffet-style dinner. From left: Lisa Sciulli, professor, Department of Marketing; Maura Wilkinson ’18, risk and financial advisory senior consultant, Deloitte-Pittsburgh; Zipporah Prescott, sophomore; Tahirah Arter, sophomore, and Mike Cecotti ’98, chief accounting officer, Norilsk Nickel USA, Inc.
Next, McGrath recognized the most active members of the SAA as well as the 2021 and 2022 SAA officers. She also recognized Alexis Diehl, the recipient of the PICPA Outstanding Senior Award, and Edward Williams, the recipient of the Highest Graduating Senior Award.
The 2022 SAA officers include: Kacy McKeel, senior vice president; Erin McGrath, president; Kim Anderson, faculty advisor; Matthew Gulyas, vice president of finance; and Yuxin Deng, vice president.
Following the dinner, several alumni met at the Coney on Philadelphia Street to catch up and reminisce about their time at IUP, including, in front, left to right: Sarah Zbur ’17, senior audit associate, KPMG-Pittsburgh; Nicole McCourt ’17, senior accountant, Arconic; Sara Bertram ’18, senior, EY-McLean, Virginia; Lexi Murin ’17, tax senior, EY-Philadelphia; Frederick Phillips ’16, senior assurance associate, EY-New York City; and Kim Anderson, professor, Department of Accounting, who had these alumni in her Intermediate Accounting class when they were students at IUP.
Boyer recognized the 81 IUP alumni in attendance by announcing the name, title, and company of each. McGrath recognized the 19 IUP faculty and administrators in attendance, with special recognition for the SAA faculty advisor, Kim Anderson, who, after 31 years as an accounting professor at IUP, will be retiring within the next couple of years. Of the 181 alumni and students in attendance at the dinner, 126 had Professor Anderson for at least one class; they all stood and applauded to show their appreciation for her service to IUP.
Eight 1994 IUP accounting alumni who had Professor Kim Anderson for her first semester teaching Intermediate Accounting (fall 1992) attended the SAA dinner. From left: Michele McEvoy O’Leary, assurance managing director, BDO; Rob Deli, CFO, Atlas Title Company; Brian Walker, CFO and EVP Finance, Millcraft Investments; Anderson; Seung Lee, president, Newtech Dental Laboratories; Todd Kramer, regional president, PIVOT Physical Therapy; Joanna Fetzer Sutton, entrepreneur-in-residence, University of Pittsburgh; Dan Simoni, managing partner, PwC-Tulsa; and Gina Creighton DeRubeis, controller, Altoona Water Authority.
McKeel concluded the evening by thanking everyone for supporting IUP’s Student Accounting Association and welcoming them back to campus for the annual Accounting Career Day, which will be held on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Accounting Career Day is a large career fair held every September for accounting majors. The 2021 Accounting Career Day included over 70 employers from 34 companies.