Katie Kullman

In conjunction with the Pamplin College of Business, the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Business Law has announced their 2019 undergraduate student award recipients. The department honorees, which are selected by the Finance Department Awards Committee in consultation with Interim Department Head John Easterwood, are Katie Kullman, Olivia Hsu, and Ashlynn Peters.

Hsu, of Altavista, Virginia, is the recipient of the Finance Department Outstanding Senior Award. She carries a 4.0 GPA while serving as a volunteer for both Head Start of Giles County and Students Helping Honduras. Hsu is a member of the University Honors program and the Financial Planning Association, serves as sector head for industrials and utilities with Bond and Securities Investing by Students (BASIS, a student-managed bond fund responsible for investing $5 million of the Virginia Tech endowment), and has studied abroad through the Semester at Sea program. After graduation, Hsu will join financial planning and wealth management firm Bronfman Rothschild in Maryland.

Kullman is the recipient of the Finance Department Service Award. The senior from Princeton Junction, New Jersey, serves as the vice president of finance for the sorority Delta Delta Delta – where she is also a member of the Philanthropy Committee – is co-head of BASIS, and is a member of the Dean’s Student Advisory Council as well as the University Honors program. Upon graduation, Kullman will work in sales and trading for Citigroup in New York, with whom she had previously interned.

The Finance Department Leadership Award recipient is Peters, a senior from Tomball, Texas. The student-athlete serves as captain of the Virginia Tech Swimming and Diving team and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) Most Valuable Diver in 2018. She is a two-time member of the ACC All-Conference Diving team and has competed at the NCAA Diving Championships in each of her four years at Virginia Tech. Peters also serves as curriculum assistant for the Apex Systems Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where she develops materials for and leads student workshops.

Finance seniors Caroline Rector and Jack Holland were previously announced as winners of the Pamplin Outstanding Senior Award and the HH Mitchell Outstanding Leadership Award, respectively. Those awards are chosen by members of the Undergraduate Awards Committee, which consists of one representative from each of Pamplin’s seven departments.

Rector, the 2019 Pamplin Outstanding Senior Award recipient, is a finance and real estate double-major from Nokesville, Virginia. Rector serves on the Student Hokie Club Leadership Council, acts as co-head of recruiting for Student-managed Endowment for Educational Development (SEED), is a Real Estate Department peer mentor, and is a tutor for student-athletes. She is a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and has studied abroad in Lugano, Switzerland, all while maintaining a 3.98 GPA. After graduation Rector will work as an investment banker in New York City with Credit Suisse, with whom she served as an intern in 2018. As the Outstanding Senior Award winner, Rector will be invited to speak at May commencement.

Holland, a finance and management double-major from Vienna, Virginia, is the recipient of the H. H. Mitchell Outstanding Leadership Award and is invited to speak at the Graduates with Distinction Reception. Holland serves as Regimental Commander of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, the highest student rank in the Corps, having previously served as Command Sergeant Major and Platoon Sergeant. He is an officer in the Virginia Tech Class of 2019 (Cadet Member-at-Large), a summer orientation leader, and a member of numerous organizations, including the Hokie Ambassadors, the Student Alumni Associates, and the Citizen-Leader program within the Corps of Cadets. Holland is also a member of the honor societies Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Beta Gamma Sigma. After graduation Holland will work as a consultant for RSM in Northern Virginia, where he interned in 2018.

Each of the award winners will be honored at the Students of Distinction Reception, scheduled to take place on April 24, 2019.

Written by Jeremy Norman