A former Pillow Academy valedictorian has been awarded a nationwide accounting fellowship.
Anish Sharma, who is studying to get his doctorate in accounting at Indiana University, was one of 10 students across the country to be awarded a $25,000 grant in February through the Deloitte Foundation’s annual Doctoral Fellowship program.
Sharma said he was first nominated to apply for the fellowship by his school. Then, he was selected from a pool of nationwide applicants.
“At first I was excited that I was the one picked to apply from Indiana University,” he said. “I think that was kind of an honor in itself. And then to be picked as a winner among everyone who applied was honestly shocking. I got the call, and I wasn’t expecting it. So, honestly, I don’t really remember the call much after the person said, ‘Congratulations.’”
Sharma added that he is looking forward to using the funds and opportunities from the fellowship to concentrate on his future course work.
The Deloitte Foundation’s annual Doctoral Fellowship program is awarded to students who plan to pursue academic careers upon graduation. The award is intended to support the recipients’ final year of coursework and the subsequent year to complete their doctoral dissertation. Since the program began in 1956, more than 1,100 future educators have been awarded this fellowship.
The Deloitte Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives through the Deloitte Company, which provides audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to several companies.
“Supporting future educators is a critical step in strengthening the quantity and quality of accounting professors,” said Erin Scanlon, Deloitte Foundation president, in a statement. “As the Deloitte Foundation helps these Ph.D. students complete their academic career journey, they can make a significant impact on the thousands of students they will teach over time, who will, in turn, become the next generation of business leaders.”
Sharma said after he graduates he hopes to move back to Mississippi and become a tenure-tracked professor, adding that the backing he has received from his hometown has been incredible.
“I’ve really appreciated the support that I’ve received from people in Greenwood, even to this day, the support from Pillow Academy and those teachers,” he said. “I think that I was very lucky to have been able to grow up in Greenwood and to have gone to a school like Pillow, where they stress so many things in the classroom and outside of the classroom. I think that has kind of helped me get to where I am now.”
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. On Twitter at @AdamBakst_GWCW.
