Grossman Yanak & Ford Creates New Accounting Fellowship

The first awardees of the new fellowship received their funding and began the MAcc program in 2023. Awardees will complete a fellowship project, which will conclude with a presentation at the end of the academic year. The 2023 Fellow will create the “The ABCs of Partnership Taxation,” a Form 1065 training program to use internally for personnel new to tax services.

The fellowship was established with the support of Jeffrey Ford (B’83) and Grossman Yanak & Ford (GYF). Jeff is a long-serving member of the School’s Accounting Advisory Council and is a founding partner of GYF. He has focused his impressive career on providing outstanding accounting, auditing, and consulting services to a variety of companies and non-profit organizations.

“Duquesne taught me that it’s about the people and their commitment to each other. Any individual can move the needle.”

According to Jeff, the evolution of the fellowship began as an idea raised in an Accounting Advisory Council meeting. Members were looking for a way to make an immediate impact that would both benefit students and serve as an inspiration for other committees and councils. After brainstorming, the group established that their plan had to include five key components:

• It must make a contribution that enhances enrollment
• It must positively impact students
• It must offer the opportunity to create relationships with participating students
• It must deepen participants’ relationship with Duquesne
• It must be able to be replicated by other School programs

The goal of the fellowship is to motivate high-achieving undergraduate students who might not pursue a graduate degree to apply to the MAcc program. Jeff hopes that the fellowship awardees will graduate with the sense of responsibility that he gained as a student. “Duquesne taught me that it’s about the people and their commitment to each other. Any individual can move the needle.”