Nearly 75,000 individuals sat for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in 2019, and two Bryant University alumni were among only 137 to receive the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award from the organization that administers the test, the AICPA.

Nicholas Japhet ’18 and Benjamin Brayton ’19 both attained the distinction by achieving a cumulative average score of higher than 95.50 across all four sections of the exam, and by passing all four sections on their first attempt.

“The exams are really tough, so I never expected to get the award until I discovered my score on the final exam,” says Japhet. “Bryant's accounting curriculum is comprehensive, so a lot of the CPA exam content was already familiar. To learn the content that was new to me, I leveraged the mindset and work ethic my Bryant professors instilled in me,” he adds.

Japhet and Brayton join a distinguished group of Bryant alumni who have also achieved the award in recent years. In 2018, Brandon Salk ’17 achieved the distinction; and in 2017, Adam Gifford ’16 received the recognition.

“As the Chair of the Accounting Department I am very proud of our alumni receiving this prestigious achievement award every year, and this says a lot about our accounting faculty,” says Saeed Roohani, Ph.D. “It is gratifying to see so many Bryant grads achieve such a distinguished honor, and it is a testament to the quality of the Bryant Accounting Program.”