2015 The Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Dhanawat Darakananda is a fourth-year Business Economics and Financial Actuarial Mathematics double major, with a Minor in Accounting. He is pursuing both College Honors and the Economics Departmental Honors Program, as part of which he is writing his Honors thesis on developmental economics and human capital accumulation. He is the president of the Undergraduate Economics Society and an active member of many professional student organizations. Over the summer of 2015, he interned at Cornerstone Research, an economic and financial consulting firm. Outside of school and professional development, he enjoys traveling, hiking, and reading. He is incredibly honored to have been awarded the Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Scholarship.

Future Plans: Dhanawat plans to return to Cornerstone Research after graduation. As financial consulting work requires in-depth knowledge of accounting and finance, he is preparing for and planning to take both the CPA and CFA examinations. After a few years in consulting, he is considering pursuing a MBA or a business Ph.D. In the long term, he believes that family, friends, and new experiences would shape his professional ambitions.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely grateful for the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro. This scholarship not only helps to reduce my financial burdens, but it is also recognition of my academic achievement, which pushes me to keep on working hard. I cannot explain in words my gratitude to the Shapiro family. I would like to thank my family, friends, and everyone at the Department of Economics for their support. This scholarship will, indeed, allow me to devote my time to academic and professional development during my last few quarters at UCLA, especially the Honors thesis and last few accounting courses for the CPA exam.