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Dateline: 9/9/2009

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

Alumna Wirkkala Wins Prestigious Accounting Honor
Sheriann Wirkkala, from Naselle, Wash., and a 2008 graduate of the Gonzaga University Master of Accountancy program, has won the Elijah Watt Sells Award for 2008. Wirkkala currently works for the federal audit practice at KPMG in Washington, D.C.

The award honors the top 10 candidates nationwide who passed all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination on their first attempt during 2008 and earned the highest cumulative scores.

Gonzaga accounting Professor Eddy Birrer said Wirkkala, who also earned a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga in 2007, is Gonzaga’s first student to receive the prestigious national accounting excellence award. Another Gonzaga alumnus, Marlis (Petersen) Spawn, previously received the Elijah Watts Sells Certificate of Distinction for placing among the top 100 on the CPA exam nationally.

The Elijah Watts Sells Award program, established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), has recognized outstanding performance on the Uniform CPA Examination since 1923.

For more information, contact accounting Associate Professor Gary Weber at (509) 313- 3427 or via e-mail.