The 2004 award winners (in alphabetical order) are:

Michael J. Becker, a Georgia candidate from Clearwater, FL, is a graduate of the University of South Florida, who is currently employed by Deloitte & Touche in Tampa.

David Eads, a Texas candidate from Fort Worth, TX, is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and is currently working at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Fort Worth.

Eric Daniel Hessler, a Virginia candidate who lives in Reston, VA, attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and also works for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Tysons Corner, VA.

Laura Ann McClure, a Texas candidate from Fort Worth, TX, is a graduate of Texas Christian University and is employed by Deloitte and Touche.

Katie Eileen McDermott, an Illinois candidate from Oak Forest, IL, is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and is currently employed at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Christopher Rohrich, a North Dakota candidate from Maple Grove, MN, graduated from the University of North Dakota and is working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Minneapolis.

Olya Stuber, a Minnesota candidate living in Minnetonka, MN, is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and is also with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Xin Amanda Yuan, an Illinois candidate living in Summit, NJ, is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is employed by Lucent Technologies in Murray Hill, NJ.

Yan Zhang, an Illinois candidate from Edison, NJ, is also a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and works for DPM Mellon.

For more information about the Uniform CPA Examination, visit www.cpa-exam.org.

The award was created in 1923 to honor Elijah Watt Sells (1824-1924). Sells was one of the country's first CPAs under the provision of a New York State law enacted in 1896 and a leader in advancing professional education. He was active in the establishment of the AICPA and was a founder of New York University’s School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance.