Contact: Victoria Russell
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State is one of two universities nationwide launching a student chapter of a prominent national professional organization for women in accounting and related fields.
University alumnae Glenda P. Fulgham of Point Verde Beach, Florida, and Krystle M. Dixon of MSU's Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy have been leaders in establishing a campus chapter of the Accounting and Financial Women's Alliance.
Founded in 1939 and headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, AFWA is considered the nation's leading organization for women in accounting and related professions. For more, visit http://afwa.org.
The first AFWA chapter was established at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Fulgham is president of Jacksonville's MSU alumni chapter and a member of the national MSU Alumni Association board of directors. While her MSU degree is in child development, the Tupelo native later earned an accounting degree at North Florida.
"I knew that if Mississippi State ever started a chapter, I wanted to be part of it," Fulgham said.
Dixon, an MSU instructional technology graduate, is the Adkerson School's academic coordinator. She is a Louisville native now residing in Starkville.
Following a strong student response at the first interest meeting, the newly formed MSU chapter went on to elect it first set of officers.
Senior Michelle M. Lewis of Olympia, Washington, is president; sophomore Abigail A. Poole of Haleyville, Alabama, vice president; sophomore Bailey M. Wright of Pascagoula, secretary; and junior Vivian H. Buie of Hattiesburg, treasurer.
"With each meeting, we have found that this is more than a group of women with similar majors," Poole said.
"The AFWA is a network of support consisting of women with passions and drive to surpass earning a college degree so each member is given an open opportunity to positively influence her peers, campus and community," she added.
For more information on the new chapter, contact Dixon at 325-1631 or kdixon@business.msstate.edu.
The Adkerson School is part of MSU's College of Business. For more information, visit www.business.msstate.edu/programs/adkerson.
Complete information on Mississippi's flagship research university is found at www.msstate.edu.