MS accounting grad Griffith earns Gold Medal from OSCPA

Friday, February 23, 2024

Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Manager of Communications | 405-744-7756 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu

The Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) presented Oklahoma State University accounting graduate Danielle Griffith with the Gold Medal Honorable Mention Award for her accomplishments on the CPA Exam.

The OSCPA Gold Medal award is conferred to the candidate statewide with the highest score on all four parts of the CPA Exam within two consecutive windows. Griffith is the first OSU graduate to receive the Gold Medal since Luke Fillmore in 2019.

Griffith recently earned her master’s degree in accounting from the Spears School of Business and has begun her professional career on the assurance staff at EY. A first-generation college student, Griffith began her educational journey at Tulsa Community College before transferring to OSU-Tulsa. She commuted from Tulsa to Stillwater to finish her undergraduate and graduate degrees, and maintained a steady job to pay her way through school.

“I would do it all over again; I wouldn't change a thing,” said Griffith. “I never thought any of this would be possible for me, and OSU made it possible. I thought I'd have to be in debt in order to go to college. I feel like the program really sets up people that are more like me, who didn't grow up with a lot, to change their lives and change their family's path. To think that I've gotten not only a bachelor's but a master's degree is crazy, and I couldn't have done it without OSU and the professors there.”

Griffith credits her time management skills for helping her through a hectic schedule that included up to 30 hours of work each week as an assistant manager at a couple of Tulsa-area Simple Simon’s Pizza and Cheezies Pizza locations. During graduate school, she also served as a teacher’s assistant at OSU-Tulsa on top of her studies.

She meticulously planned every assignment and spent almost all her free time getting ahead on schoolwork. The 90-mile commute from Tulsa to Stillwater carpooling with classmates or on the Big Orange Bus gave her extra time to study. Still, Griffith sees it as preparation for her career.

“Some students would wait until the last minute to get assignments done, but with my schedule I didn’t have a choice but to get things done a few days early,” said Griffith. “So, I feel like it kept me from procrastinating, honestly. And now I feel prepared for my first busy season at work. I’ve been through this before and I know how to plan things out and get them done.”

Griffith credits the faculty at both OSU-Tulsa and in Stillwater for helping her realize her potential. She spotlighted Rachel Cox for instilling a passion for accounting, while Dr. Angela Spencer and Rachel Domnick were essential in preparing her for the CPA exam and opening the doors to internships. She says that Spencer went out of her way to make sure that Griffith and a classmate got to be a part of a recent CAGLE study abroad trip to Spain, and that it was a dream-come-true experience.

The OSU faculty says that Griffith is the one who deserves all the accolades.

“I had the privilege of being Danielle’s instructor for several of her accounting courses at OSU-Tulsa before she went on to complete our graduate program and her CPA,” Cox said. “As a first-generation college student, Danielle had to overcome a lot of unique challenges, but she had such an infectious curiosity for learning that I think really helped her succeed. She is a really special student to me. Her intelligence, but also humility and quest for excellence, was apparent throughout her time at OSU. She is so deserving of this award for her outstanding performance on the CPA exam and I couldn’t be more proud of her as her instructor and mentor.”

Formed in 1918, the OSCPA is the official statewide professional organization for Oklahoma CPAs. The group unites and supports over 6,000 CPAs across the state in public practice, private industry, government and education.

Visit the Spears Business School of Accounting website to learn more about the master’s of accounting program.