Two Native Students are Part of $400,000 Scholarship Awards Given by KPMG Foundation

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Scholarships

Native Brief: NEW YORK - Brandon Ater, Cherokee, and Matthew Driskill, Inuit/Eskimo, are part of a group of ten new recipients awarded $10,000 annually for up to five years by the KPMG Foundation.

The KPMG Foundation made the announcement on Monday. The Foundation announced it has awarded a total of $400,000 in scholarships to 40 minority accounting doctoral students for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The students include 10 new recipients and 30 students whose scholarships have been renewed.

"The KPMG Foundation is proud of the very positive influence it has had in helping to increase the number of diverse faculty members at our nation's colleges and universities," said Jose Rodriguez, KPMG Foundation chairperson. "The Minority Accounting Doctoral Scholarship will play a critical role in transforming these 40 talented students into educators who will shape tomorrow's business leaders."

Since 1994, the KPMG Foundation has awarded over $10 million to 297 African American, Hispanic American, and American Indian / Alaska Native scholars pursuing doctorate degrees, as part of its ongoing commitment to increase the representation of minority students and professors in business schools. Today, 194 of those scholarship recipients have successfully completed their doctoral program and are professors at universities throughout the country.

KPMG Foundation also supports The PhD Project, a related program aimed at increasing the diversity of business school faculty. Since its inception in 1994, The PhD Project has increased the number of minority business professors from 294 to 1,084.

"Business leaders realize success by understanding the complexities of a global marketplace," says Stacy Sturgeon, KPMG LLP's national managing partner of university relations and recruiting. "These lessons begin in the classroom and diverse educational environments provide future leaders with the perspective that is necessary to thrive in their professions."

Brandon Ater attends Virginia Tech and Matthew Driskill attends the University of Florida.

posted August 16, 2011 9:50 am edt