Media contact: Alicia Rohan
B.J. ByrdB.J. Byrd, a University of Alabama at Birmingham Collat School of Business student majoring in accounting and minoring in information systems, has been named a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Scholar and received a $10,000 scholarship in recognition of his GPA and campus involvement within numerous student organizations.
“This scholarship will allow me to complete my undergraduate degree worry-free,” Byrd said. “Accounting is a family tradition for me. I grew up watching my aunt thrive in the industry. She had plenty of opportunities in her accounting career, including traveling across the United States and even to Canada, which inspired me to go into this field of study.”
UAB Accounting and Finance instructor Eddie Nabors nominated Byrd for this prestigious scholarship after noticing his active involvement in the university’s National Association of Black Accountants chapter, the UAB Blazer Male Excellence Network and the UAB Honors College.
“It is not common for freshmen to jump into a major-specific organization and take on leadership roles,” said Jessica Smith, an adviser in the UAB Collat School of Business. “He’s a standout. His grades are outstanding, he meets with me regularly to talk through degree planning, and he has commendable leadership potential.”
Byrd is looking forward to progressing further into his accounting courses and learning more about the profession and plans to concentrate on business accounting.
“I like the versatility of accounting,” he said. “Everyone needs an accountant, no matter if you own a business or not. Everyone needs one for something.”
PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation that oversees auditors of issuers and broker-dealers. It has awarded academic scholarships to undergraduate and graduate accounting students since 2011. These scholars are invited to network with other scholars around the country and communicate on LinkedIn.