Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Promotion Watch ’19: DHG Admits 7 New Partners, New MP and 11 Partners at Wipfli, BDO U.K. Adds 14 New Partners

New partners were deified recently at DHG, Wipfli, and BDO U.K., plus new leaders were named at Wipfli and PwC in South Africa.

Dixon Hughes Goodman admits seven new partners and principals
Seven lucky boys and girls got their seat at the big kids table on June 1, but the class of 2019 is smaller than other DHG classes in recent years. Last year, the top 20 accounting firm added 13 new partners and principals, 11 were admitted in 2017, nine in 2016, 16 in 2015, and 12 in 2014.

Let’s take a closer look at the class 0f 2019 by the numbers:

  • 4: The number of new partners and principals in tax, the most of any service line.
  • 3: The number of new partners and principals in Atlanta, the most of any location.
  • 3: The number of new partners and principals whose first names begin with J.
  • 2: The number of new partners and principals whose last names begin with S.
  • 1: The number of new partners and principals who are female, or 14% of the class.

Here are the six men and one woman who make up the DHG class of 2019:

  • Brian Burns, Forensics and Valuation, Richmond, VA
  • Chip Chambley, Tax, Atlanta
  • Janice Kong, Transaction Advisory Services, Tysons, VA
  • Adam Quattlebaum, Tax, Greenville, SC
  • John Seymour, Assurance, Atlanta
  • Jack Small, Tax, Atlanta
  • Dennis Theodossis, Tax, Asheville, NC

Wipfli names Kurt Gresens new managing partner, admits 11 to partnership
It’s already been a busy June at Milwaukee-based Wipfli, as partners at the top 20 accounting firm elected Kurt Gresens as the firm’s new leader, effective June 1. He will succeed Rick Dreher, who is completing the final term of his 13-year tenure as Wipfli’s managing partner and chairman of the board.

Kurt Gresens

Gresens, who joined Wipfli’s Wausau, WI, office in 1992 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been a partner at the firm since 2006 and was elected to Wipfli’s board of directors in 2013.

Since 2016, Gresens has been on the firm’s leadership team as overall practice partner. During his career at Wipfli, Gresens has served a variety of clients across industries and played a key role in helping create the firm’s Vision 2020 and Wipfli 2025 strategies, the firm stated in a press release.

Kelly Fisher, who most recently led the firm’s tax practice, is taking over as Wipfli’s new practice partner.

Wipfli also announced that 11 new partners officially got their stripes on June 1. The class of 2019 is slightly smaller than the 14 new partners admitted in 2018 and the 13 admitted in 2017.

Here’s a review of Wipfli’s new class of partners by the numbers:

  • 5: The number of new partners in tax, the most of any service line, followed by four in consulting and two in audit and accounting.
  • 4: The number of new partners who are women, or 36% of the class.
  • 3: The number of new partners who are based in either Madison, WI, or Minneapolis, the most of any location.
  • 1: The number of new partners who have the last name of Scully.

Here are the lucky 11:

  • Jaili Fajardo, CPA, Tax, Lincolnshire, IL
  • Brian Gaumont, Audit and Accounting, Madison, WI
  • Casey Kretz, CPA, Tax, Eau Claire, WI
  • Chris Lockhart, CPA, Tax, Minneapolis
  • Anita Mahamed, CPA, CFP, Tax, Madison, WI
  • Kevin Scully, Consulting, Madison, WI
  • Nick Smith, Consulting, Minneapolis
  • Dana Springer, CPA, Tax, Havre, MT
  • Ryan Swiderski, Consulting, Minneapolis
  • Michelle Swoboda, CPA, Audit and Accounting, Duluth, MN
  • Mike Vaccarella, CPA, CGMA, CM&AA, Consulting, Chicago

BDO U.K. admits 14 new partners
The 14 people added to the partnership this week by the Queen’s Bravo Delta Oscar are in addition to the 10 new partners added by the firm since the start of the year.

The promotions span the firm’s London, Birmingham, Southampton, Manchester, and Ipswich offices.

The 14 newest BDO U.K. partners are:

  • Tim Betts, Advisory
  • Susan Blower, Advisory
  • Kevin Haywood Crouch, Advisory
  • Caryn Deeley, Advisory
  • Lyndon Firth, Tax
  • Steve Hoon, Tax
  • Gareth Jones, Advisory
  • Tracey Keeble, Audit
  • Helen O’Kane, Advisory
  • Laura Pingree, Audit
  • Steven Roberts, Audit
  • Paul Townson, Tax
  • Robert Waters, Advisory
  • Steve Watts, Tax

PwC South Africa appoints its first woman CEO
Shirley Machaba is the first black African woman to be appointed as CEO of PwC South Africa. She will succeed Dion Shango, who takes over as CEO of PwC Africa on July 1. Shango has led PwC South Africa since July 2015.

Shirley Machaba

A chartered accountant, Machaba has been a partner in PwC’s assurance services division for more than 15 years, and she has more than 26 years of internal and external audit, risk management, compliance, and governance experience within the private and public sectors across all industries.

Machaba also served as a member of the PwC Africa Governance Board and as chairperson of the PwC South Africa Governing Board from October 2012 to June 2018. She is currently PwC Africa’s governance, risk, and internal audit leader, as well as diversity and inclusion leader for PwC South Africa.

And the good news for Shirley is she doesn’t have to deal with this racist bag of trash who no longer works at PwC South Africa.