Summa Cum Laude Honors

12/22/2014 4:00 PM

By Lindsay Anderson

Two Foster College of Business students graduated Summa Cum Laude this past weekend, and were also honored at a dinner, where other Summa Cum Laude Bradley graduates were recognized.

Accounting student, now alumna, Jennifer Faulkner ’14 of Peoria was one of the business undergraduate students honored.

“I was a transfer student into the Foster College of Business,” Faulkner said. “But in those two short years, I made friends among my professors and students. I truly appreciate the knowledge and experience the Foster College of Business has given me and know that without it, I would not be where I am today.”

As far as post-graduation plans, Faulkner presently works full time at Caterpillar in East Peoria as a legal entity accountant. She is sitting for the first part of the CPA exam in January and plans to have all four parts completed by summer of 2015.

The dinner was not only an opportunity to recognize the academic achievements of the best students at Bradley University, but also a way to provide a venue by which the students can pay tribute to the faculty who have made significant contributions to the education of their students.

Faulkner attended the dinner with Amy Fairfield Doering.

“My favorite professor was Amy Fairfield Doering because she was so enthusiastic and made a 9:00 a.m. statistics class fun. She was always dedicated to helping students and was someone you could always talk to,” Faulkner continued. “When I met her on a visit day, her enthusiasm and dedication to the school confirmed my decision to come to Bradley.”

Accounting 3:2 student, now alumnus, Eric Waibel ’14 of Morton also graduated Summa Cum Laude and attended the dinner.

“My favorite professor was Mollie Adams,” Waibel said. “Mollie was extremely challenging, but she always did a great job of listening to my questions and answering them at a level that I could understand. Additionally, my favorite class was with Simon Petravick. A case would be presented that describes an auditing error, and we would be required to explain how auditing procedures were not followed and what could have been improved in the audit process. It was a very interesting and effective way to learn about auditing techniques.”

Reflecting on his time at the Foster College of Business, Waibel gained experiential learning opportunities through an internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Peoria.

“I was able to work with a great group of people that were fun to spend time with and were excellent at what they do,” Waibel continued. “I was able to receive an insight into what public accounting entailed, while working with an intern class of fantastic individuals.”

Waibel will be working full time at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago. He took David Trillizio, Director of Orientation and Advisement, to the Summa Cum Laude dinner. Waibel worked as a student aide and cited Trillizio as a great mentor and friend.