Happy Davis Foundation and Dallas ACFE Scholarships

The Dallas Chapter of the ACFE has partnered with the Happy Davis Foundation and Origin Bank to offer annual scholarships to Dallas-area students. This year, we are proud to offer $18,000 of scholarships! Scholarships will be awarded as follows:

• Four (4) $3,000 scholarships
• One (1) $6,000 scholarship

• Accounting, Auditing, or Criminal Justice major
• Major GPA AND overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Have completed at least 12 semester hours of major field coursework (9 semester hours for graduate students) prior to the Spring 2017 semester
• Have at least one semester remaining to complete your degree after the 2017 Spring semester, or be pursuing graduate study beginning in the forthcoming Summer 2017 or Fall 2017 semesters

• Will be a full-time student (9 undergraduate hours or 6 graduate hours) in the Fall 2017 semester, or 3 hours in one of the Summer 2017 semesters.

CLICK HERE to access the scholarship application.

Applications are due Friday, March 31, 2017!

Other Scholarship Opportunities

The ACFE is proud to offer annual student scholarships opportunities:

• ACFE National offers student scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Click here to view information about the scholarship and the application. Applications for 2017-2018 scholarships are now closed. Check back Fall 2017 for next year's scholarship information. 

2016 Scholarship Recipients

Pictured left to right: Holly Reed, Origin Bank; Gonzalo Cagigal; Huong Nguyen; Linh Le; Riley Couch, Origin Bank

Gonzalo Cagigal
Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
Graduate student working on Masters of Science in Accounting & MBA
University of Texas at Dallas

Gonzalo Cagigal II was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Mr. Cagigal is currently employed with the Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Dallas Office as a Senior Auditor since 2012. He began his career with the Social Security Administration as a Claims Representative in 2003 at the McAllen TX Field Office. He later served as a Disability Medical Examiner in the Dallas, TX Regional Office Disability Processing Unit beginning in 2009. Throughout his career, Mr. Cagigal has received numerous individual and team awards within the agency on his work as a Claims Representative, Disability Medical Examiner, and Auditor. Mr. Cagigal graduated from Texas State University at San Marcos with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a major of Finance. Mr. Cagigal is currently attending the University of Dallas Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business Graduate School and is enrolled in the Masters of Business Administration/Master of Science Program where he will receive his dual graduate program (MBA/MS) in Accounting.

Bryan Holdegraver
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Graduate Student working on Master of Science in Accounting
University of North Texas

Bryan Holdegraver is a graduate student at the University of North Texas seeking a Master of Science in Accounting. Previously, Bryan completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. Bryan is currently employed by the University of North Texas as a police officer assigned to the Patrol Division. In April 2016, he received the Federation of Schools of Accountancy Excellence Award. Bryan plans to use his Masters degree to support his experience as a police officer and eventually investigate financial crimes full time.

Linh Le
Bachelor of Science in Accounting
Graduate Student working on Master of Science in Accounting
Southern Methodist University

Linh Le is a graduate student at the Southern Methodist University seeking a Master of Science in Accounting. Previously, Linh completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting at Texas Christian University where she co-founded the Texas Christian University Chapter of Wildlife Society. Linh is currently employed by National Bankruptcy Services working with attorneys to provide accounting expertise and detect bankruptcy fraud.

Jason McFarland
Bachelors of Science in Accounting
Graduate Student working on Master of Accounting in Taxation
Southern Methodist University

Jason McFarland is a Graduate student at Southern Methodist University where he is pursuing a Masters in Accounting with an emphasis in Taxation. Jason received his Bachelors of Science in Accounting from the top ranked Brigham Young University. During his time at BYU, he served as the Compliance and Competitions Officer in Beta Alpha Psi and the Treasurer in the Institute of Management Accountants. He has interned with Zions Bancorporation in Internal Audit and most recently at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Tax line of service. He has had the opportunity to gain experience with the core tax group as well as the private equity and hedge fund team at PwC. While completing the MSA program at SMU, he plans to pursue both his CPA and CFE certifications. After graduating from SMU, Jason will return to the Dallas PwC Tax team to begin his career.

Huong “Hannah” Nguyen
Bachelor of Science in International Business
Master of Business Administration in Finance
Graduate Student working on Master of Professional Accounting
University of Texas at Arlington

Huong “Hannah” Nguyen is currently a full time Graduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is also working full-time as an intern at Oak Hill Advisors. While attending school for her Master of Professional Accounting, Hannah was involved in on-campus tutoring for undergraduate students on Finance and Accounting subjects. She is an active member of the UTA Accounting Society, The Tax Club, and she is a volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant (VITA), UTA International Peer Advisors, Tarrant County Food Bank, and Mission Arlington. Her areas of interest include Forensic examination and financial accounting. Upon graduation (anticipated to be Spring 2017), Hannah plans to pursue a career in fraud auditing. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and hiking.