2015-2016 Stophel Distinguished Students
The College of Business John C. Stophel Distinguished Student Award is presented annually to recognize high potential business students who have made significant and meaningful civic contributions to UTC and the College of Business while maintaining a strong academic record.
Students must provide evidence of exceptional extracurricular leadership and community service, strong leadership skills, self-motivating initiative, exceptional presentation skills, and a strong academic record with minimum GPA of 3.0.
Below are the 2015-2016 John C. Stophel Distinguished Students.
Undergraduate Students
- Elizabeth Betty
- Ngoc "Meredith" Do Beckenthal
- Heather Delbridge
- Donald Marsh
- Lara Pietrantone
- Abigail Scott
- Karah Sisk
- Kassidy Weaver
- Xing "Berry" Xiao
Graduate Students
Clint Landers
Undergraduate Students
Elizabeth Betty
Elizabeth is currently a senior in the College of Business and plans to graduate in May with a degree in General Management. She is from Nashville, TN.
While at UTC, she has immersed herself in the community in a variety of ways, on and off campus. She participated in ThinkAchieve and the Women's Leadership Academy in 2014. She has worked on-campus for the football team, tutored inner-city teenagers through GEAR Up, worked for a local Bed and Breakfast, and most recently has gained real world business experience through the City of Chattanooga internship. She acquired the role as the Public Art intern and worked closely with the mural surrounding the AT&T building downtown. She was able to participate in volunteer opportunities through the internship and got to gain a lot of knowledge about how the City of Chattanooga government functions.
After graduation, Elizabeth plans on finding a position in a company where she can demonstrate her attention to detail and leadership capabilities. One day she hopes to own her own animal rescue.
Ngoc "Meredith" Do Beckenthal
Meredith, originally from Vietnam but raised in the Memphis TN area, is a senior Accounting student at UTC.
On campus, Meredith is a student member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, is the Treasurer of the student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants, and served this past semester as a MOC mentor for incoming freshmen. The recipient of numerous scholarships, she is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma, Golden Key, and Beta Alpha Psi Honor Societies, is an AICPA Legacy Scholar, a Chattanooga Chapter of TSCPA scholar, a College of Business Advisory Board scholar, a Certified Management Accountant Program scholar, and tutors accounting students. Meredith is scheduled to receive her undergraduate degree in fall 2016, and has been accepted into the UTC Master of Accounting 4+1 Program.
She currently works as a Financial Planning and Analysis Intern for Mueller Co., assisting with several new projects to streamline the company's product and customer data and reporting environment as well as increasing speed and flexibility in reporting and analysis of sales, operations, and financial results. Upon completion of her education, Meredith plans to sit for the Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant exams and obtain her licenses. She hopes to use her education in accounting to work in corporate accounting, possibly for a company with a strong international presence in Southeast Asia.
Heather Delbridge
Heather is a double major in General Management and Human Resource Management from Murfreesboro, TN.
While attending UTC, Heather has been involved in numerous organizations and served in various leadership positions. She is an active member of Golden Key International Honor Society, Mortar Board National Honor Society, Sigman Iota Epsilon, Society for Human Resource Management, Student Programming Allocation Committee, a College of Business Dean's Advisory Board Scholar, Elections Commissioner for the Student Government Association, and Director of Operations for the Campus Activities Board. Heather has also been very involved in her sorority, Delta Zeta, and has served in various roles including: Photography Chair, Academics Chair, and as the Vice President of Programs. She is also a graduate of Lead UTC, LeaderShape, the Women's Leadership Academy, and Elect Her. Heather was most recently named the recipient of the Public Service Award and UTC's Homecoming Queen.
Heather's campus involvement often intertwines with her community involvement in the Chattanooga area. She enjoys volunteering at annual events like Take Back the Night and Clean and Green, and also enjoys working on smaller projects when she gets the chance. Heather also serves as a board member for the non-profit organization The First Noelle, based in Murfreesboro, TN.
Throughout the past four years Heather has worked for the University in the Office of International Programs as a student assistant. Additionally, she worked at Unum as a Client Data Specialist in their Unum Scholar Program where she learned how a corporate company operates.
Afer graduation, Heather plans on attending graduate school and getting her Master's in Industrial Organizational Psychology. Heather is extremely thankful for every incredible opportunity that has been presented to her while at UTC, and the extraordinary individuals she's encountered along the way. Although she doesn't know where she will reside in the future, she will always consider Chattanooga home.
Donald Marsh
Donald Marsh is currently a senior in the College of Business and plans to graduate in December with a degree in Investments. He is orginaly from Gainesville, FL.
As a student at UTC, Donald has served as the President of the Financial Management Association and as Vice President of Market Analysis for the Student Managed Investment Learning Experience (SMILE) Fund. He has completed the Competent Communicator course for Toastmasters International and in 2014 he was a top ten finalist at the Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference's elevator pitch competition with UTC's Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization. He is a Dean's Advisory Board Scholar and he will also represent UTC in the CFA Research Challenge in Nashville on February 18, 2016.
As an intern at The Company Lab in 2012 he graduated from the CO.STARTERS business class and founded New View Window Cleaning, which he continues to operate. In the course of his professional career he has served as president of Scenic City Professional Alliance and has been a member of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and Young Professional's Association of Chattanooga. As a business owner his responsibilities include sales, bookkeeping, supply management, and customer service to commercial and residential clients.
In addition to his on campus and professional activities, he is a local standup comic, a summer camp counselor, and a below average tennis player. After he graduates in December, he plans to pursue a Masters of Business Administration at UTC while continuing to build his business. His goal is to use his leadership opportunities to build stronger communities and encourage people to take full advantage of their opportunities.
Lara Pietrantone
Lara is a senior from Chattanooga, TN and will be graduating in May with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a minor in Communication.
During her time at UTC, Lara has served as secretary for the Economics Club as well as student advisor to the dean of the College of Business. She is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon and a Southeast Bank Scholar. She also played an active role on campus while at Chattanooga State Community College by assuming responsibility of student ambassador as well as a section leader in the college's concert choir. She entered college with a passion for stewarding the resources she has been given, which led her to pursue a degree in economics. While she thrives on cost-benefit analysis and calculates opportunity cost on a regular basis, she also enjoys creative and expressive activities such as music, theater, and graphic design. She presently volunteers as a vocalist in the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Chorus.
Lara is currently interning at TVA in Power Trading where she is responsible for scheduling trade agreements and is regularly in charge of generating daily and weekly department reports.
Upon graduation, Lara would love to continue her professional career in Chattanooga as a business analyst focusing on process improvement. She gives thanks to her family for their encouragement, her professors for their dedication, and to her Lord Jesus Christ for His grace and guidance in her life.
Abigail Scott
Abigail Scott is a general management major from Lebanon, TN.
While at UTC Abigail has served as a delegate for Residence Hall association to several conferences. She has served as President of Society for Advancement of Management her senior year after being Secretary for three semesters. She accepted membership to Sigma Iota Epsilon as well as Mortar Board. Abigail became a charter member of the Eta Kappa chapter of Gamma Phi Beta her sophomore year, and served as the sisterhood chairwoman for 2015. She also served on the Dean's Student Advisory Council for two years in the College of Business. Abigail is a Dean's Advisory Board scholar studying under Mrs. Jenny Whitener and Mr. Warren McEwen, and works on campus in the Facilities department as a part of the Academic Service Scholarship program. All of these activities have helped her combine academics with campus and community involvement.
After graduation, Abigail plans to pursue a career in the event industry and eventually start her own business. Most importantly, she wants to find a career that aligns with her values that she can be passionate about.
Karah Sisk
Karah is a senior Marketing major from Murfreesboro, TN who will graduate in May 2016.
During her college career, Karah has been heavily involved on campus. She has had the opportunity to serve in several leadership opportunities in Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority, serve as a Resident Assistant in Stophel Apartments, and was previously the Art and Films Chairperson for the Campus Activities Board. On-campus involvement equipped her with the necessary skills to intern at River City Company as their marketing and programming intern in the summer of 2015. Throughout the internship, she had the opportunity to assist in the planning of several public events in the city of Chattanooga, as well as manage professional social media platforms and write professional newsletter articles that were featured on River City Company's website.
Karah is currently the Director of Finance and Communications for the Campus Activities Board. This opportunity has allowed her to recruit and manage CAB's Volunteer Board as well as assist program chairpersons with their program planning budgets. She is also currently interning at Unum in the Scholar's Program as a Client Data Specialist. Lastly, Karah is also currently a painting instructor at Uptown Art on Frazier Avenue.
After she graduates, Karah plans on seeking a career in public event planning. Having a passion for both the city of Chattanooga and public events, she hopes to find a job where she can utilize her previous experience to create programs for a wider audience.
Kassidy Weaver
Kassidy is from Nashville, TN and has a passion for people. She plans to bring that passion to the workplace through her majors of Business Management and Human Resource Management.
Kassidy loves to attend numerous events on campus such as: fitness launches, career fairs, sporting events, and library workshops. Kassidy was recently elected the President of Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM). She volunteers the majority of her time with a ministry on campus called CRU where she co-leads a Bible study. Within CRU, she also attends leader's meetings, conferences, and retreats. She is an active member at her church, Calvary Chapel Chattanooga, and enjoys serving in the children's ministry regularly.
Kassidy had the privilege of completing an HR internship at a hospital where she gained invaluable experience that will help her with her future in HR. She recently was selected for an internship at Covenant Transport working with the Recruiting Director. After graduation, Kassidy is open to relocation and plans to work her way up to a top leadership position. One thing is for certain, wherever she goes, seeking volunteer opportunities and getting plugged into the community will always be a top priority.
Xing "Berry" Xiao
Berry is a senior Accounting major student and plans to graduate in May 2015. Originally from China, she has lived in Cleveland, TN since 2011.
On campus, Berry is a member of Beta Alpha Psi Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and American Association of University Women (AAUW). She also likes participating in the other campus trainings and activities, such as LeaderShape Institute, Lead UTC, Elect Her, community service, etc. She is a recipient of multiple scholarships, including the College of Business Dean's Advisory Board scholarship, Outstanding Accounting Student scholarship, successive Dean's List Scholarship, and so on.
Berry works at TVA as a project accountant intern. Her major duties are preparing accrual and adjusting entries, approving work order, creating or closing tasks, running reports, and doing analysis by using the computerized accounting systems, such as Oracle, Cognos, Maximo, Power-plan. She is also an active member of TVA Diversity and Inclusion Steering Team, TVA Employee Resource Group, TVA Intern Program, and TVA Community Service Program.
After graduation in May, Berry plans to get a full-time position with TVA and pursue an MBA and CPA license at the same time. Her ultimate goal is to have her own business one day.
Graduate Students
Clint Landers
Clint is a 2014 Accounting and Finance undergraduate and a 2016 MBA and Business analytics certificate graduate from Franklin, TN.
While at UTC, Clint served as the Vice President of Beta Alpha Psi. Clint was also a member of Golden Key International Honor Society, Beta Gamma Sigma, Financial Management Association, and Trading and Investing Club. In addition to being active on campus, Clint has volunteered with the Humane Society, Ironman Triathlon, Komen Race for the Cure, and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.
Clint is currently employed as a Consultant at ACA Performance Services where he helps provide GIPS verification and consulting services to investment managers around the globe. Prior to working at ACA Performance Services, Clint was employed as a graduate assistant for the UTC College of Business where he was a finance tutor and research assistant.
After graduation, Clint plans to finish sitting fo his CPA and continue working at ACA Performance services.