Lizzie (Yuting) Ma

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2016 Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography: Lizzie (Yuting) is a fourth year Business Economics student with minors in Accounting and Russian Language. Lizzie started fathoming into accounting during her sophomore year, and decided that she would like to become a tax professional. Lizzie has been heavily involved in the UCLA Residential Life the past three years, and really appreciated the professional experience she gained from staffing at the ResLife Learning Centers. Lizzie is a huge fan for classical piano and her favorite artists are Claude Debussy and Frédéric Chopin. She enjoys reading Theodore Dreiser, Margaret Mitchell and Jane Austen for leisure. Lizzie also likes to scribble her own music and pieces of literature.

Future Plans: Lizzie will be working for PricewaterhouseCoopers starting this summer as a tax associate. She is thrilled to transition from school life to professional life. In the meantime, she will be preparing for the Certified Public Accountant exam.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: It was a huge honor for me to receive the scholarship. The scholarship will help reduce my financial burden substantially and enable me to smoothly finish off my college career. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Harry Simons Scholarship Donors for offering me this award. This means everything to me and I will go from here and strive for higher achievements in my life.

Jiahua Li

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2016 Harold R. Mortenson Endowed Scholarship Fund Recipient

Biography: Jiahua Li is junior at UCLA with a major in Business Economics and a minor in Mathematics. She was born in China and raised in Markham, a city just north of Toronto, in Canada. She moved to the United States in 2014 to attend UCLA. Throughout her undergraduate career, Jiahua has developed an interest in business and finance. She interned at a Venture Capital firm called JUMP Investors last year. This past summer, she was a fixed income analyst intern at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China. With a deep passion for sports and leadership, she actively competed for UCLA’s fencing team and dragon boat team. She served as the fencing club President and women’s foil Team Captain.

Future Plans: Upon graduation in June 2017, Jiahua will attend University of Toronto to complete a 1.5-year degree in Masters of Financial Economics. She plans to pursue a career in Corporate Banking. However, she hopes to keep her options open over the duration of her Masters program and explore other careers in finance and banking.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: It is a great honor to receive the Harold R. Mortenson Endowed Scholarship award as recognition for my academic achievements. I am deeply grateful for the generosity and support of Mr. Harold R. Mortenson. The scholarship will significantly reduce my financial burden and allow me to focus on my academic and professional development during my final quarters at UCLA. This recognition of my academic achievements fills me with motivation to continue seeking out new challenges and upholding myself to high academic standards. I would like to thank my family, friends, professors, teammates, and coaches and many others, who have made my achievements possible with their support. I will continue to work hard so that one day, I can pay it forward to the next generation of Bruins.

Jae Ho Lee

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2016 Demsetz Undergraduate Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Born in December 1992 in Seoul, South Korea, Jae Ho is a Senior majoring in Business Economics and minoring in Accounting. He graduated with the class of 2012 from St. Maria Goretti High School in Maryland. He will graduate from UCLA in August 2017. Since coming to UCLA, he successfully served in the Republic of Korea Army and interned at Boston Consulting Group. He is now in the process of searching for jobs in Accounting as he is interested in international taxation, in which he thinks he has an advantage as he has endorsed various cultures while growing up.

Future Plans: Jae is in the process of searching jobs. He hopes to get a job at an accounting firm to gain more experience in the real business world. He also plans to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). In the long run, he also expects to continue his education by joining an MBA program.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am very delighted and honored to be chosen as a recipient of the Demsetz Undergraduate Scholarship. I am very touched by their commitment to the future generations of UCLA students. This award will allow me to focus on academics and my job search while alleviating some financial burden. It encourages me to continue working hard as it is also a sign that my academic achievements were recognized. I hope I can pay it forward to the community some time in the future as Mr. Demsetz did. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Demsetz for his generosity.

Heather Lee

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2016 Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Heather Lee is a fourth-year Economics major with a minor in Accounting. She is involved in various student organizations and holds several leadership positions including Selections Co-Chair of Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society. In addition to academics and extracurricular activities, Heather has participated in several professional undergraduate case competitions, for one of which she and her team was a finalist. In her spare time, Heather enjoys volunteering, watching football games, and spending time with her friends and family.

Future Plans: Having completed an internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers this past summer, Heather will be joining the firm after graduation as an assurance associate in the Los Angeles office. In the long term, she hope to continue her educational journey by pursuing a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) to gain a better understanding of the business realm and global economy.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely thankful and honored to have been selected as the recipient of the Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Scholarship. This scholarship will allow me to focus more on my academics and extracurricular activities while relieving some of the financial burden of higher education. I am eternally grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Shapiro for their generosity and support of not only my undergraduate studies, but also my intended career in public accounting. I hope that one day I will be able to give back to the community just as they have given to theirs.

Hao Jin

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2016 Gumbiner Savett Inc. Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Hao Jin is a senior student, who is pursuing a major in business economics and minor in accounting. Born and raised in Beijing, China, he came to America alone to attend university at 18. While achieving outstanding academic success, Hao Jin has been taking on a leadership role in Ascend at UCLA and he’s actively involved in Bruin Hedge Fund, Student Accounting Society, and Undergraduate Business Society. In addition, Hao Jin has finished several internships in different fields, such as accounting, investment banking and corporate finance. Because of his internship and course study, he has developed great interest in accounting and decided to start career in public accounting. During his spare time, he loves playing basketball and hanging out with friends to discover good restaurants.

Future Plans: After graduation, Hao will start his career at Ernst & Young as a FSO tax staff in Los Angeles and pursue his CPA license. Later down the line, Hao also plans to apply for his MBA or Master in Finance at a well-ranked business school to enhance his business knowledge and expertise.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely honored to be the recipient of the Gumbiner, Savett Inc. Scholarship for the 2016 – 2017 academic year. This scholarship not only eases my family’s financial burden brought on by rising tuition costs, but also recognizes the time and efforts I have put in my past achievements, encouraging me to continue working hard. Moreover, this scholarship also makes me feel that UCLA community truly cares about me and wants to help me succeed, so I’m determined not to let the community down. Meanwhile, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Gumbiner Savett Inc. for its generosity and kindness that helps me and my family. Hope one day I can give back to UCLA and help students achieve their goals just like how this scholarship helps me.

Freddy Alberto Jimenez

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2016 Jeffrey W. Baus ’59 Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Freddy Jimenez is a third year business economics major with a minor in accounting. He finds motivation through his parents who have sacrificed everything they could so that he could receive a quality education. Seeing education as the key to breaking the poverty cycle, Freddy holds himself a high standard of academic excellence. Beyond academics, he is heavily involved with several non-profits on campus, believing in the notion of paying it forward. In his spare time, Freddy enjoys working out and going to sporting events.

Future Plans: Coming off a START internship this past summer, Freddy will be interning at PwC again, working with financial service firms under the assurance practice. Upon graduation, Freddy hopes to become a core assurance associate at PwC while obtaining his CPA certification. Freddy eventually plans on obtaining an MBA degree and eventually becoming a CFO.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely honored and humbled to be selected as the Jeffrey W. Baus ‘59 Scholarship recipient. Money is extremely tight at the moment, especially with my parents working their way towards citizenship, and this scholarship came in at the perfect time. Not only does this scholarship reduce my financial stress, but also decreases my work hours and improves other quality of life aspects that equate to an overall better academic experience. The plight of the under represented and financial limited scholar often goes unnoticed, but I am grateful that through Mr. Baus’ generosity and understanding my goals are now more achievable.

Isaac Hung

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2016 John J. Peterson Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Isaac Hung is a third-year Business Economics Major and Accounting Minor from the San Francisco Bay Area. He has had an amazing time at UCLA, where he is learning something new every day. He is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity. He is also a dedicated athlete on the UCLA Dragon Boat team. Isaac has done various internships in accounting, consulting, finance, and startups.

Future Plans: Isaac will be graduating in December 2017. He plans to learn as much as he can from the business world and possibly pursue an MBA a few years down the road. He is hopes to find a career in tech or consulting before becoming an entrepreneur in the future. This summer he will be interning in Deals Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers and going on a trip to Cambodia to teach English to underprivileged students.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am very thankful to receive the John J. Peterson scholarship. Since I started college, I have financially supported myself by working one or two jobs while in school. However, it became even more challenging for myself and my family when I stopped working in my junior year to focus on academics and recruitment. However, receiving this scholarship is a blessing that arrived at the right time. I am extremely grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson for their help. Their support motivates to continue striving for success so that one day I can do the same for others.

Haojia Guo

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2016 Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography: As a global citizen, Haojia spent the first 18 years of his life living in Hunan, China. Influenced by Asian culture, he holds values such as humbleness, diligence and cordialness dear and near. Having received his higher education in Business Economics at UCLA, he incorporates efficiency, directness, openness and devotion to community services into his everyday life. In an effort to pass on these virtues and influence the community, he volunteers at the UCLA new-student-welcome events, sharing his own experience and tips and advice to incoming transfer students. He also helps low-income individuals in West Los Angeles file tax returns as a VITA volunteer. He aspires to bring these values to his future professional career, and continue to make a positive impact on the community

Future Plans: To further broaden his horizons, Haojia plans to go to South America for graduation travel. He hopes to have an educational and fun experience, learn and appreciate cultural diversity. After, he will return to California with a fresh global perspective; and start his journey to become an accounting/finance professional. Eventually, with academic knowledge and real-world experience, he hopes to become an accounting professor; and pass on an economic way of thinking.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am beyond thankful for the Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting. This scholarship relieves my financial burden. As an accounting intern at Boingo Wireless, I am grateful for my hands-on experience; I have learned much about the business process at an internet service firm. However, I wish I had more time to enjoy what UCLA has to offer. With the scholarship, I expect to spend less time at work; more time taking advantage of the resources at UCLA, on building meaningful connections with my peers and professors. The scholarship shows me hard work pays off. In the future, I will keep having a strong work ethic and give every opportunity in life my best shot.

Stephanie Dong

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2016 Boeing Company Scholarship in Economics Recipient

Biography: Stephanie Dong is a sophomore pursuing a major in business economics and minors in accounting and statistics. She is also an Achievement Scholar and college honors student. She is currently involved in undergraduate research under Professor Craig Fox (UCLA Anderson School of Management), investigating decision making under uncertainty. She enjoys interdisciplinary research and is especially interested in the fields of behavioral economics and behavioral finance. Whilst completing her major, she also aims to take a broad spectrum of challenging courses that complement her diverse interests – math, economics, psychology, and accounting. Outside her academics, she is a review editor of the Aleph Undergraduate Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences, a member of various undergraduate business clubs, and an avid table tennis player for the UCLA Women’s Varsity Table Tennis Team.

Future Plans: In the short run, Stephanie hopes to continue partaking in research projects that involve data collection using computer programming and statistical analysis. She also aims to gain some industry experience through an internship that would allow her to apply her business/economics knowledge and data analysis skills. She is open to finding internships in the accounting, finance, entertainment, or aerospace industries. In the long run, she aspires to contribute to business and economics through continued academic research and practice in these fields.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: This Scholarship means so much more to me than just an award. Having grown up in a different country, I knew that coming to UCLA alone would be an eye-opening experience. Indeed, this past year-and-a-half in college has been one of exploration, acquisition, and self-discovery. It was an opportunity to develop independence, interact with distinguished faculty, and launch into the subjects I am passionate about. However, being a college student, I often question whether I am on the right track. Getting this scholarship was an enormous encouragement and confirmation of my efforts. I look forward to truly applying my knowledge and skills to the real world in the coming years, and hope that one day I can give back to the school I esteem.

Miguel Shawn Diaz

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2016 Harold R. Mortenson Endowed Scholarship Fund Award Recipient

Biography: Shawn Diaz is a sophomore at UCLA from Richmond, California. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society. During his time at UCLA, Shawn has had the privilege of being involved with UCLA Rally Committee, Residential Life, and the UCLA Volunteer Center. In addition to his volunteer work, Shawn is currently a social media and marketing intern with the UCLA Volunteer Center. He enjoys sharing his Bruin pride at sporting events, exploring local hiking trails, and going to the beach.

Future Plans: Shawn has developed an interest in marketing; largely resulting from his internship experience with the Volunteer Center. He hopes that through this internship, he will gain the technical skills to turn his passions for social justice and environmental sustainability into assets for future professional endeavors. Shawn is ambitiously seeking new opportunities to gain experience and further discover his career interests. After graduating from UCLA, Shawn is looking to pursue work in the marketing sector before possibly returning to academia in pursuit of an MBA. He would like to acquire a profession that uses marketing platforms to advance the agenda of businesses that support the causes that fuel his drive.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: It is an honor to have been selected as the 2016-2017 recipient of the Harold R. Mortenson Endowed Scholarship Award. I would like to personally thank Mr. Mortenson, the selection committee, and the Department of Economics for making this investment in my education. My family and I are grateful for your contribution to my education. Receiving this scholarship has eased the financial burden of higher education. I will be able to worry less about finances and more about pursuing my career goals. I look forward to applying my ambition and using this opportunity to further better myself through my academic endeavors. Again, thank you for your continued support through this process. I feel truly blessed.