cpazos@kpmg.com, Author at PhD Project Stories

Changing Lives

When you ask Dr. Jorge Pérez about the value of The PhD Project, he’s quick to answer. “It has changed so many people’s lives, and it has changed the face of the academy,” he says. “Just to be able to say that I’ve been a part of that is a tremendous honor.” One of the…

The PhD Project might not exist today.

Without Bob Elliott, The PhD Project might not exist today. Bob’s passion for advancing diversity in the accounting industry came as no surprise to the people who knew and loved the visionary leader who passed away in November 2022. According to his wife, Lee, one of Bob’s former KPMG colleagues told her: “The immensity of…

The 80-year Test

Michael Clement was a PhD student representative at that first meeting in September 1993 that led to the creation of The PhD Project. When asked why he decided to pursue his PhD, Dr. Clement – whose father had been a professor – recalls, “I explained that when I get to be 80 years old, I…

A Source of Inspiration

Carolyn Callahan doesn’t shy away from the title of trailblazer. The former University of Louisville College of Business Dean and Vice-Provost earned her doctoral degree from Michigan State University in E. Lansing and in her first academic position at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst supported the launch of her research career. This occurred at…

Lifting One Another Up

A second-year accounting doctoral student from Arizona State University named Thomas Lopez was among the presenters at the first PhD Project conference in 1994. And from that moment on, he’s been deeply connected and dedicated to The Project’s mission. Today, he’s known as Dr. Lopez to students at the Culverhouse College of Business at The…

Blazing the Trail

Dr. Bill Qualls was there from the beginning. As one of the attendees of the inaugural PhD Project conference, he was instrumental in helping the organization build its community, find its voice and spread its mission. He recalls getting his invitation to that first conference. “I was asked to be part of a group that…