Department of Accountancy 2024-25 Events
Meet the Firms
The annual Meet the Firms event continues to be the premier job fair for accounting, finance and other financial information students at Weatherhead School of Management. The Beta Alpha Psi student organization, co-advised by Tony Bucaro and Melissa Carlisle, but run entirely by our outstanding students, once again pulled off a fabulous event on Sept. 12 at the Thwing Ballroom. The event continued with its “speed networking” format, which was implemented five years ago. Small groups of students from all Weatherhead School disciplines interacted briefly with representatives from every companies looking to hire CWRU students for internships, practicums and entry-level positions. We look forward to continuing the tradition next year, in the opening weeks of the fall 2026 semester. Please email Melissa Carlisle if your firm would like to participate next year.
The Immel Speaker Series
The Immel Speaker Series (ISS) is now in its fourth year. Founded and run by Heidi Blakeway-Phillips with outside sponsorship from the Immel family, ISS brings in outside speakers on topics of particular interest to our undergraduate students. Topics for fall 2024 included a panel on how to obtain internships and relevant work experience, a panel of young alumni on early career experiences and pathways and a discussion with Jacqueline Dalton, CFO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on developing a portfolio of skills and experiences for a rewarding career. Topics for spring 2025 included panels of alumni and community members speaking on wealth management and entrepreneurship through acquisition.
Spring Banquet and Dickerson Lecture
The department hosted its annual spring banquet on Apr. 21, and welcomed our very own Tom King, recently retired professor and department chair for one more lecture. Tom became the 40th Dickerson Lecturer and Alum of the Year. In true Tom King style, he invoked storytelling to describe to students, alumni and guests the critical importance of—what else?—storytelling. Tom received his Doctorate in Management degree from ӰƵ in 2016, after which he joined the faculty as a full-time professor. Before joining the team, he spent over 30 years in practice, most of that time with Progressive Insurance, where he rose through the ranks to corporate controller and treasurer. In his spare time, Tom wrote a few books on plain-English statistics, numeracy and accounting, and published practical articles for the finance and accounting crowd.
Our 2026 banquet will take place again this coming April. All current students, Accountancy alumni and many friends of the department are invited. We don’t charge for the event—instead, your generous gifts to the Department of Accountancy Strategic Initiatives Fund pays for it. Thank you for making this, and other events—like the Braden Award and Lecture—possible!
A very special part of the Spring Banquet is the recognition of our tremendous students. The Department of Accountancy was proud to honor the outstanding achievements, leadership and dedication of our graduating students at the annual Spring Banquet. Our award recipients demonstrated exceptional commitment to their studies, and we believe they will all be great contributors to the profession! We celebrated their hard work and perseverance, and we wished them all great success as they begin their careers!
Braden Award and Lecture
The 2024-25 Andrew D. Braden Award presentation was given by Jacqueline Dalton, senior vice president and the chief financial officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The event took place last November, when Ms. Dalton regaled students with stories of her experiences leading her organization and her path to her current role. Ms. Dalton joined the Federal Reserve Bank in 2012, and progressed through various roles. Previously, she spent 20 years at KeyBank in progressive roles. Each experience along her journey provided lessons for our students as they begin their careers. As always, students and faculty were fully engaged with strategic questions for our honored guest. Be on the lookout for information about this year’s Braden Lecture, scheduled for Nov. 14, 2025, when Ken Haffey, CBIZ director and senior advisor, will be our honored speaker.
