$2M endowment fund to provide scholarships for accounting students

Thursday, July 18, 2024 - 10:00

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DENTON (UNT), Texas - The G. Brint Ryan College of Business at the University of North Texas is announcing the renaming and endowment of its esteemed Accounting Scholars Program, now known as the Don and Donna Millican Accounting Scholars Program.

[Link] Don Millican, UNT alumnus and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company.

This evolution comes alongside a significant endowment fund of over $2 million generously provided by Don and Donna Millican, marking a new era for the program, its students and the Department of Accounting.

"Don and Donna Millican's transformative gift exemplifies their belief in the power of education to shape lives and drive positive change," said Marilyn Wiley, dean of the Ryan College of Business. "This endowment ensures generations of students will benefit from opportunities for learning and professional growth in the field of accounting."

Originally established to support exceptional incoming freshmen and transfer students pursuing degrees in accounting, the Don and Donna Millican Accounting Scholars Program (DDMASP) will continue to uphold its goals of fostering academic excellence, professional development and leadership within the field of accounting by pairing each incoming student with a student mentor as well as a professional mentor in the accounting industry.

"It's been a joy to see our scholars evolve from freshmen and sophomores to CPAs and successful business professionals," said professor of accounting Madhuri Bandla, founding faculty advisor of the DDMASP. "I am beyond grateful to the Millicans for their generous donation that will bring to life many more success stories for our students in the future."

[Link] Brady Brockett, UNT and DDMASP graduate and senior specialist at Charles Schwab.

Reece Dominigue, a UNT student pursuing a master's degree in taxation and data analytics, has been in the DDMASP program since her freshman year. Now, she has completed her internship at KHA Accountants PLLC and will start working there full time next summer.

"During my first semester in the DDMASP, I got paired with an upperclassman who fielded my personal questions," Dominigue said. "The next year, I was able to mentor several underclassmen myself. About halfway through my time in the program, I was connected to a professional CPA mentor who I was able to talk to about the recruiting process, my worries and any lingering questions I had about the field itself."

This program, founded in 2017 by Bandla and Ananth Seetharaman, chair of the Department of Accounting, has grown to over 100 scholars, both current students and alumni. The first alumni group graduated in 2021, and professor Peggy Jimenez joined as co-faculty advisor in 2022.

Brady Brockett graduated from the DDMASP and UNT in Spring 2021 with bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting. He then passed all four parts of the Certified Public Accountant exam on his first attempt within a month of graduating. Now, he works as a senior specialist in the internal audit department at Charles Schwab.

"The DDMASP provides a great introduction to networking early on in your college career," Brockett said. "The professors, mentors, professionals and peers I connected with helped guide me through the program and the process of landing an internship."

Through mentorship and professional development events, students will gain the skills and insights necessary to graduate with a bright future, beginning early on in their college career.

"We are deeply thankful to Don and Donna Millican for their gift and faith in our student potential," Seetharaman said. "Their generous donation will have the ripple effect of fulfilling the dreams and career aspirations of our students."