WFU Students to Represent United States at KPMG Global Case Competition in Athens, Greece

A team of four Wake Forest University students took first place in the national round of the KPMG Global Case Competition on January 22, 2010 in Atlanta, GA after winning the university-wide competition held on the Wake Forest University campus on November 23, 2009.

The team, made up of undergraduate business and accountancy students Louis Brotherton, Andrea Kensy, Swayze Smartt and Zachary Zimbile, had three hours to read a case, analyze the problems and prepare a presentation. Once completed, the team presented via video conference to the KPMG judges in New York City.

“These students represented Wake Forest and themselves extremely well,” said Yvonne Hinson, PriceWaterhouseCoopers Faculty Fellow and associate professor of accountancy who directs the Wake Forest business school’s undergraduate and graduate accountancy programs. “We could not possibly be more proud of Andrea, Louis, Swayze, and Zachary. Their hard work has certainly paid off.”

“When reflecting on their presentation in November, this team was well-prepared, articulate, showed a tremendous amount of strategic and critical thinking and were ‘quick on their feet’ in responding to my and the other judges questions,” said Jose R. Rodriguez, Regional Professional Practice Partner for KPMG LLP. “What was also very impressive was that they acted as a ‘team’ in that every member made a significant contribution in the presentation and in responding to questions. As a member of the Board of Visitors of the Wake Forest Schools of Business, as well as a partner and member of KPMG’s US Board of Directors, I’m extremely proud that these students (and WFU) are representing the US at our global competition.”

Seven teams from universities across the country, including Baylor University, Lehigh University (second place), University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois, University of Maryland and the University of Southern California also competed.

The Wake Forest team will make their way to Athens, Greece in early April to represent the United States and Wake Forest University in the KPMG Global Case Competition.

For more information on the competition, click here.