The aim of the endowment, said one alum, resides in “making a difference for generations to come” at La Salle.

Ed Chiosso, CPA, FHFMA, ’98 and Dave Greed, CPA, ’89, always knew they wanted to impact students and faculty at La Salle University. They wondered if there was a way to pool the collective passion and philanthropic efforts of their KPMG colleagues who also graduated from La Salle.

That was 10 years ago.

Today, thanks to Chiosso and Greed and more than approximately 75 alumni presently or formerly employed by KPMG—one of the Big Four accounting firms—La Salle University has established the KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting. All told, employee and partner contributions to La Salle over the last decade, with a corporate match through the KPMG Foundation, exceeded $515,000.

“Your desire to give back, that starts at La Salle,” said Chiosso, a partner in the audit practice of KPMG’s Philadelphia office. “La Salle teaches you about the philanthropic spirit of giving back to your community and making a difference for generations to come, and I’ve always found ways to carry that on throughout my life.”

The KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting is a three-year term professorship that recognizes the teaching excellence of a full-time faculty member in the Department of Accounting at La Salle’s School of Business. Kristin Wentzel, ’90, Ph.D., who serves as chair and professor of the accounting department, is the inaugural recipient of the term professorship, beginning in the 2021-22 academic year.

How the annual income on the endowment is used, Greed said, is up to the discretion of the La Salle faculty member serving the term professorship. That includes departmental travel, the purchase of new technologies and equipment to support faculty and students, research projects and collaboration, and speaking engagements. It also is intended to support student practice and preparation for the uniform certified public accountant (CPA) examination.

“Our goal is the endowment will advance the mission of the University and the scholarly work of the professor and their students,” Chiosso said, who joined KPMG in May 2002.

For School of Business interim dean Yusuf Ugras, Ph.D., the KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting “creates a competitive advantage” for La Salle students looking to enter the accounting industry. Ugras pointed to the Department of Accounting’s “tremendous history” with alumni in premier public accounting firms like KPMG, which has made more than 60 full-time hires of La Salle graduates over the last decade—including many in leadership capacities, he said.

“The establishment of this endowed professorship is external validation of the outcomes of our accounting program, which not only focuses on traditional accounting topics but also incorporates recent topics such as analytics and forensics implementation that are relevant to the profession and industry,” said Ugras, also an associate professor of accounting. “I want to thank our faculty, our Accounting Advisory Board and our alumni, particularly those at KPMG for helping establish the KPMG Professorship—a true recognition of excellence.”

Since those initial conversations, Chiosso and Greed have worked closely with the University to develop a formal plan for the KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting. Along the way, they spurred fundraising support from their KPMG colleagues through gamification. Often, La Salle grads at KPMG would establish goals to see which graduating classes could achieve the highest participation percentage. A corporate match from the KPMG Foundation, which Greed said is available to all new and existing employees at the firm, also helped significantly.

“The final number,” Greed said, “is pretty meaningful.”

Wentzel has chaired the Department of Accounting since May 2018. She’s an expert in financial accounting, management accounting, and service learning whose work has appeared in Global Perspectives of Accounting Education and the Advances in Accounting Education, to name a few publications. After earning her Bachelor of Science in accounting from La Salle, she went on to earn an MBA from Villanova University and her Ph.D. from Temple University.

“The establishment of the KPMG Endowed Professorship shows the fondness and strong connection La Salle alumni have for the faculty and the Department of Accounting,” Wentzel said. “Our network is strong. That’s who we are—a family. Our alumni take great pride on helping today’s students secure jobs and flourish professionally, and this endowment is just the latest example of that commitment.”

“The endowment will provide a long-term, perpetual stream of funding for the Department of Accounting, creating opportunities for academic and professional advancement for our students and faculty, alike,” said Dan Joyce, M.A. ’01, La Salle’s Vice President of Advancement. “The KPMG Endowed Professorship will provide for La Salle’s students for years to come, and we are grateful to our passionate and philanthropic alumni for their generous contributions.”

Both Chiosso and Greed are past recipients of La Salle’s Michael A. DeAngelis Award, honoring individuals for outstanding achievement in the accounting profession.

Chiosso, who was a brother in Sigma Phi Lambda during his undergraduate days, remains deeply connected with La Salle, whether through fraternity alumni events and regular speaking engagements with accounting students. The establishment of this scholarship, he said, is “definitely a proud moment.”

“A KPMG endowed professorship is most common at larger, public institutions with thousands of students. To bring a KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting to La Salle University, a place where students will get a premier learning environment and life-changing experience, it’s remarkable and I’m so proud of our alumni for making this possible,” Chiosso said.

“On behalf of La Salle, I extend my sincerest thanks to the strong and engaged business school alumni that made the KPMG Endowed Professorship in Accounting possible,” said La Salle University Interim President Tim O’Shaughnessy, ’85, an accounting graduate from the School of Business. “This endowed professorship will deliver real impact for our students—supporting their path toward an in-demand degree while preparing them for a transformational life and career after La Salle.”

—Christopher A. Vito