DePaul University Associate Professor of Accountancy Elizabeth Murphy will receive the Illinois CPA Society’s (ICPA) inaugural Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Diversity Award at the Society’s Leadership Recognition Dinner at the Hilton Chicago on June 12. The new annual award recognizes an Illinois certified public accountant who has made a “marked contribution to diversity within the accounting profession.”

Murphy was chosen to receive the award for serving as an advisor and competition coach for the DePaul student chapter of the Midwest Association of Hispanic Accountants (MAHA), helping to found an African-American/Hispanic male student program on campus, finding innovative ways to instruct Chinese accounting professionals with limited English comprehension, and chairing DePaul’s President’s Diversity Council Student Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee.

“It is such an honor to be nominated and selected by the Illinois CPA Society as the first recipient of the Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Diversity Award,” said Murphy, a resident of Tinley Park, Ill. “I feel that I share this award with my students at DePaul, in particular the Midwest Association of Hispanic Accountants students. When given the opportunity and support, they have stepped up to the plate and hit grand slams. As their ‘Doctora,’ I view their successes to be among my greatest rewards, in addition to watching them give back to those students who follow them through the program. Like my students, I have been fortunate and am grateful to all who have supported me in my professional career, including those whom I have had the pleasure to know through my involvement with the Illinois CPA Society.”

Under Murphy’s tutelage, DePaul’s MAHA, with approximately 350 current and alumni members, has successfully competed in a number of grueling local and national accountancy competitions that require months of preparation. In the last seven years, they have taken first place in the national PricewaterhouseCoopers xTax competition once and the national KPMG-Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting audit contest three times.

“The breadth of contributions to diversity that Beth has led is amazing,” wrote Debra R. Hopkins, a fellow CPA and director of the Northern Illinois CPA Review, in her nomination of Murphy for the award. “She not only promotes diversity everyday in the classroom, but also uses her nights and weekends to promote diversity through participation in many events. The events she and her students participate in last anywhere from one week to six months. This is no light weight effort,” Hopkins wrote.

"The profession of accounting has been a path to success and a better life for many and it has been for me, as well," he said. "What I have accomplished could not have been done without the support and encouragement I have received from my colleagues and students during my 30 years at DePaul, where education and service are two of its major goals."

Editors’ Note: To interview Murphy and Needles or obtain digital photographs of them, contact Robin Florzak, DePaul Media Relations: 312/362-8592 or rflorzak@depaul.edu.