Two Decades of UB Accounting Alumni Have Shaped Area's Largest Firms
May 10, 2017
Contact: Office of Government and Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
For the past two decades, alumni from the University of Baltimore have served in senior leadership positions for the majority of Baltimore's leading accounting firms—a claim that can be made by no other institution, public or private. Over those years, UB alumni typically have held senior management positions in about half of the metropolitan area's 25 largest firms, with a concentration holding University of Baltimore graduate degrees. Currently, University of Baltimore alumni are serving in top leadership positions at nine of these 25 firms.
UB's dominance in this category—as compiled in the Baltimore Business Journal's annual Book of Lists—has been steady going back to the 1990s. Consistently, UB has been a top producer of alumni leaders in accounting, with one or more of its graduates in the position of managing partner or its equivalent. In 2013, the University had its highest number of alumni represented, with 13 in the survey of the top 25 largest area firms. Year over year, UB's alumni numbers far surpass the representation of accounting graduates from other universities and colleges.
"University of Baltimore promotes leadership and an early exposure to the business environment through interaction with students who have already entered the workplace," said Art Flach, M.S. '83, current chair of UB's Accounting Advisory Board and former managing partner of the Grant Thornton Baltimore office. "This interaction allows for an accelerated business understanding which allows the student to be successful as a leader. I firmly believe this is the reason so many University of Baltimore students have become leaders in the accounting profession."
The leaders and their firms' respective ranking in the 2017 Book of Lists are:
- Jeffrey N. Berman, M.S. '96, CPA, CFP, PFS, managing partner and shareholder, KBST&M, P.A. (#22)
- Patrick M. Byer, Sr., MBA, '94, CPA, managing principal - Maryland Region, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (#5)
- Gregory French, MBA, '91, CPA, Mister, Burton & French (#22)
- Simpson H. Gardyn, M.S. '80, CPA, CVA, managing officer, Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn, P.A. (#10)
- Andrew W. Garrett, B.S. '88, CPA, managing partner, Weil, Akman, Baylin & Coleman (#16)
- David A. Goldner, M.S. '83, CPA, CFP, CVA, managing partner, Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates (#12)
- Howard J. Rosen, B.S. '71, CPA, president, RS&F Chartered (#18)
- Frank G. Savarese, B.S. '79, M.S. '86, CPA, CFP, managing partner, Weyrich, Cronin & Sorra Chartered (#19)
- Jonathan Walls, M.S. '04, CPA, Grant Thornton (#14)
In its undergraduate accounting specialization, UB offers expertise for careers in public accounting, banking, financial analysis, credit management, government, nonprofits, and more. High achieving accounting students are invited to join the school's Accounting Honors program, a program that exposes them to a deeper understanding of the industry and encourages leadership. On the graduate degree side, the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services is a specialized program built for both current accounting professionals and career-changers. Rounding out the portfolio, the institution offers an M.S in Taxation program that is paired with the UB School of Law's L.L.M. in Taxation program as well as several certificates including the newly offered Graduate Certificate in Internal Audit Services.
Learn more about the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.