Alumna and Students to Receive Accounting Awards
Kelly Neuwirth Grier '91
Media contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 284-4579
September 21, 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—The Department of Business Administration and Economics at Saint Mary’s College will honor one alumna and five students at an awards ceremony this evening.
Kelly Neuwirth Grier ’91, managing partner of the Chicago office of Ernst & Young LLP, will be honored with the Department’s Outstanding Accounting Alumna Award. Grier has been with Ernst & Young LLP for 20 years and in her current position is responsible for the office’s resources, including oversight of the firm’s assurance, advisory, tax and transaction services, according to a company press release announcing her promotion in 2009. With approximately 1,700 people, Chicago is the second largest Ernst & Young LLP office in the United States. Grier has extensive experience serving Fortune 500 companies and supporting public equity and debt offerings, acquisitions, divestitures and assessment of International Financial Reporting Standards. She brings global perspective to her work having lived in Zurich, Switzerland for four years as the Ernst & Young LLP audit partner coordinating the US GAAP audits in Europe for a Fortune 10 client.
“We are honoring Kelly because of her outstanding contributions to the accounting profession. Meeting Kelly is an incredible opportunity for our students,” said Mary Ann Merryman, professor and chair of the Department of Business Administration and Economics. “We are also so proud of the students who will be honored tonight and their accomplishments. In 20 years one of them may be another Kelly Grier.”
Grier graduated from Saint Mary's in 1991 with a degree in business administration. Today at 1 p.m. she will speak to the Cost Accounting class in room 340 of Spes Unica Hall. At 4 p.m. she will speak at an open forum discussing career development and work-life balance. The forum will take place in Vander Vennet Theatre in the Student Center. The awards ceremony is at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Lounge. (The media is invited to attend any of these, but please alert Gwen O’Brien, director of media relations, of your plans ahead of time.)
The five accounting students receiving awards are as follows:
Allison Rhea ’13 of Carmel, Indiana will receive the Bridget Anderson/KPMG Award. This is a $2,000 award given to an accounting junior for excellence in the Principles of Accounting sequence.
Margaret Dobihal ’12 of Saint Paul, Minnesota will receive the Deloitte Award. This is a $1,000 award given to an accounting senior for excellence in Intermediate Accounting.
Jordan Lierz ’12 of Boise, Idaho will receive the Ernst & Young Award. This is a $1,000 award given to the accounting senior judged most likely to succeed in public accounting.
Joanne Almond ’12 of Lafayette, Indiana will receive the Crowe Horwath Award. This is a $1,000 award given to an accounting senior for outstanding achievement in Personal and Advanced Topics in Income Tax.
Nicole Gans ’12 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will receive the PricewaterhouseCoopers Award. This is a $1,000 award given to an accounting senior for leadership in the accounting program at the College and in the community.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2012 published by U.S.News and World Report. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.