The Professor O. Robert Anderson Outstanding Student in Accounting Award was established in 1973, and is given in memory of Professor O. Robert Anderson, who taught accounting at the University. This annual award goes to the senior accounting major judged to be the most outstanding in scholarship, leadership, and service by the faculty. This year, the award was presented to Tuyet-Anh Ta.
Tuyet-Anh Ta is a recent immigrant to the United States from Vietnam. She arrived here nine years ago, was the only person from her family in this country, and had little English skill. Determined to pursue a better future, she started her college education by enrolling in the ESL program at Mission College, where she later earned an Associate of Arts in Business.
Inspired by the logical way accounting reports come together to tell the users the results of business operations, Anh set her goal to become a CPA. Being accepted by Santa Clara University and its Accounting Department was an opportunity that she never could have dreamed of. While at SCU, Anh was an active volunteer tax preparer at International Rescue Committee and working as a research assistant, grader and student assistant for the Department, while earning a 3.94 GPA.
Reflecting on her academic experience, Anh greatly appreciated the Accounting Department faculty and staff who genuinely care about each and every one of the students.
Following her graduation, Anh joined the audit practice at Deloitte San Jose.
The Outstanding Accounting and Information System Student Award goes to Jessica Huang this year.
Jessica Huang grew up in San Diego, but knew she wanted to come to Silicon Valley for college because of her fascination with technology. Since both her parents are CPAs, she had always known that accounting could be a great option. However, it was the amazing professors and strong accounting program at SCU that inspired her to pursue Accounting and Information Systems as her major.
While at SCU, Jessica was very active in the business school as part of the ACE Leadership Program and the Leavey Scholars Program. Outside of the business school, she was involved with Greek life and was Panhellenic Honor Society President during her senior year. One of the highlights of her college career was studying abroad in London where she had the opportunity to intern at a reputable business intelligence company.
Following her graduation, Jessica traveled all over Europe before beginning to work full-time at Apple Inc. in Cupertino.