Delia Valentine has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellowship in Accounting. The Deloitte Foundation invites approximately 100 universities to apply for the fellowship, and they select only the top 10 accounting Ph.D. candidates to each receive $25,000 grants. The award is intended to support the recipients’ final year of coursework and the subsequent year to complete their doctoral dissertation. Learn more about the award by visiting Deloitte for the full press release.

“This is an incredible achievement for Delia and for our Ph.D. program at Virginia Tech,” said Sarah Stein, who serves as Delia’s faculty advisor. “Delia is a great representative for our program and stands among a set of fantastic students from other top schools.”

Delia is a true Hokie receiving her bachelor's degree in accounting from Virginia Tech in 2007, followed by her master's in 2008, and returning in 2017 to begin work on her doctorate. Delia's research interests include empirical research in auditing, particularly in areas involving the new audit partner disclosures in the United States. When asked about her future in academia, Delia replied "I am passionate about conducting research that is of interest to academics as well as regulators and practitioners. Becoming an accounting professor will allow me to bring my previous work experience along with my current research pursuits to the classroom and positively influence the future of the profession."

The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives that help develop the talent of the future and their influencers and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum innovation.