Alumni stories

SAF Professor is being recognized for his contributions to accounting research.

Three SAF professors will receive the Distinguished Professor Emeriti award in 2024.

The School of Accounting and Finance hosted its annual Alumni Excellence Gala on May 9^th in Toronto with the company of faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and SAF supporters.

Congratulations to SAF alum Benjie Thomas (PDAcc '98) who has just been announced as the next CEO for KPMG Canada, effective October 1, 2024.

Andy Wang, an alum from the first Student Investment Fund (SIF) cohort at the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) eyes a return on investment after receiving funding from the Student Venture Fund after graduating nearly a decade ago.

Every year, the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding alumni for their professional achievements and community service. 

This year, Jeannine LiChong (MAcc '92) has been awarded the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award and Ian Weng (MAcc '13) has been awarded the Leader to Watch Award. 

The School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) caught up with Andres Perez-Vilarino (MAcc ’19) to discuss his career post-graduation, and to learn how he has leveraged his education and passions to help inform his role.

Recipients of the 2022 Outstanding Performance Award have been named and include three School of Accounting and Finance faculty members: David Ha, Deborah Kraft and Daniel Rogozynski.

Currently, Ho works as an associate in private equity at Brookfield Asset Management and he attributes the start of building his investor mindset to his experience at the University of Waterloo with the Student Investment Fund (SIF). SIF gave him and other SAF students the unique opportunity to invest with real money and get hands-on-training in equity valuation and portfolio management with guidance from industry experts and faculty mentors. This taught him about value investing that he then applied to his co-op role as private equity analystat the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and when competing in the CFA Institute Research Challenge.

On a bright sunny day at the TD Centre in Toronto, professor Adam Vitalis interviewed four SAF alums about their careers in the internal audit field. Internal audit is a critical component of effective corporate governance and risk management and plays an important role in helping organizations achieve their objectives while safeguarding their assets and reputation.

The School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) caught up with Alba Navarro (MAcc '21) to discuss her career since graduation and the gap in support for 2SLGBTQIA+ students that she experienced in university.

Alba, a Master of Accounting graduate, is energized by the work that she does as a Consultant in Deloitte Canada’s Finance and Performance team. Alba helps companies bridge technology-enabled transformation with leading practice business processes for their finance functions.

Sisters Stephanie Nguyen and Jessica Nguyen celebrate graduating from the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program and passing the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE) together. During their time at the University of Waterloo they had in each other a built-in best friend, study partner and cheerleader.

Seasoned entrepreneur Ian Weng (MAcc ’13) began his career at KPMG in audit and advisory services after graduating from the Master of Accounting program. While at KPMG he gained a breadth of knowledge and obtained his CPA, CA designation. Like many University of Waterloo alums, however, he caught the entrepreneurship bug and wanted to create something⁠—so he ended up leaving KPMG to start his first tech startup called ChopChop.

SAF congratulates alum, Vanna Krantz, as she leads Grindr as their new CFO.

Grindr LLC named a former Walt Disney Co. executive as its next chief financial officer as the firm behind the dating app plans to go public through a combination with a special-purpose acquisition company later this year.

In 2021, the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) presented the Young Alumni Award to Nilofer Ahmed, who completed her Master of Accounting degree in 2012. Ahmed’s career has merged a foundation in accounting and finance with an education in business and entrepreneurship, along with her passion for food in her current position as senior director of business and consumer strategy at Motif FoodWorks.

Each year, the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) recognizes and acknowledges our distinguished alumni for the positive impact they have made on the profession, the School and the community. The 2021 School of Accounting and Finance Alumni Achievement Award recipient is Benjie Thomas, who studied in the BA/Chartered Accountancy program and graduated in 1998.

Ahead of Father’s Day on June 19, the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) is telling the story of a family that shares a strong bond with UWaterloo. Ashi Mathur (MAcc ’93), now president of Marlin Spring began his career studying in the School of Accounting and Finance, and now, his sons Deven and Neel are enrolled in the AFM program and are expected to graduate in 2023 and 2025.

COVID-19 has disrupted financial statement auditing globally and impacted group dynamics in an industry vital to the health of the economy, according to a new study.

Ahead of Mother’s Day on May 8, the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) is sharing the story of a mother and son who graduated from the same university and program, 28 years apart. When Winnie Leung graduated from the MAcc program in 1993, the top song on the radio was I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston, and in 2021, when her son Aaron Leung graduated, the top song on Spotify was Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo. Music, fashion, and technology changed during that time, but the value of a SAF degree remained constant.

Established in 2003, the SAF Fellowship Program has proven to be a game-changer for all parties involved. The program invites SAF alumni and students to participate in a rewarding four-year relationship to develop future leaders. Selected AFM and SFM students are provided with opportunities for professional development, relevant work experience, and the added benefit of financial support.

When Pratik Shah (MAcc ’09) came across the CFO role for the neo-biotech company Cyclica on a MaRS job board, it took him right back to his undergrad at the University of Waterloo. As a Biotech/CPA student, his long-term career goal was to work for high-growth startups making a social impact. Better yet, Shah wanted to leverage his scientific background, which aligned well with Cyclica’s bold mission to build the biotech pipeline of the future.

Waterloo alum, Carmen Chung (MAcc ’10, CPA – Hong Kong, Illinois, Ontario) leveraged the international exposure she’s gained from having worked in Toronto, New York and Hong Kong to build a career that has led to an exciting and unique career in investments, accounting, finance, and beyond. The School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) caught up with Chung to learn more about her career vision and how she’s navigated a dynamic global journey.

The Women in Accounting and Finance: Global Summit is an event that celebrates our female leaders and showcases their accomplishments in the field of accounting and finance. This year, though virtual, was a great opportunity to hear the unique and empowering stories of the panelists from around the globe.

Like International Women’s Day, the Women in Accounting and Finance Global Summit events serve to inspire current students and young alums in amplifying the importance of female leadership and perspectives in business. The 2021 Global Summit event for the Women in Accounting & Finance panel discussion brought together three School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) alums to share their career stories and answer questions from event attendees.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias, calling people to imagine a gender-equal world free of stereotypes, bias and discrimination. This is also a day to recognize and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

As one of the panelists of the 2021 Women in Accounting & Finance: Global Summit event, Carmen Chung (MAcc ’10) shared stories of her co-op experiences in accounting and early career opportunities in finance.

It doesn’t take long to realize that for alum, Jonathan Yu (MAcc ’07, CPA), people and talent are the most important assets for his work with RBC. The innovative nature and authentic work in equity, diversity and inclusion at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) have made the last 12 years for Yu exciting and fresh. Yu returned to the Waterloo campus to chat with SAF about his career path and passion for helping RBC further its diversity and inclusion goals.

The American Taxation Association (ATA), in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers, presented recent PhD graduate, Betty (Bin) Xing (BMath ’13, MTax ’15, PhD ’20), with the prestigious international ATA/PwC Outstanding Dissertation Award at the annual ATA mid-year meeting.

Every year we like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by sharing the stories of SAF alums that met and fell in love on the University of Waterloo campus. This year we are happy to share the story of two graduates of the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program whose love story began at a drama club audition of all places. Now, they are happily married and have two wonderful children. Read how Sarah Cheng (MAcc ’09), Founder of BLUISH, a venture not only known for selling tulle for women, moms and babies but also providing a platform for women to share stories of strength, resilience and growth., and Brian Cheng’s (MAcc ’09), a Partner at MNP, love story grew, like compound interest  — if the interview took place in person, we have no doubt that they would have finished each other’s sentences.