Legacy Honors
The Strome College of Business hosted the third annual Legacy Honors Awards to recognize and celebrate distinguished alumni and faculty. The awards honor Strome Monarchs past and current who are building meaningful legacies of success, integrity, and community engagement.
There are three categories in which faculty and alumni can be nominated: Legacy Alumni, Legacy Faculty, and Rising Legacy. Legacy Alumni are those who, over the course of their career, have achieved significant outcomes professionally, served as leaders in their community, and demonstrated integrity in their spheres of influence. Legacy Faculty are nominated by alumni and must meet the requirements of having taught full-time for five years or more and currently being retired for five years or more. Finally, Rising Legacy are alumni who, in the first ten years after graduation, have established themselves as leaders of distinction with high potential for a lifetime of significant impact and achievement.
This year, we honored Dr. John Griffith as the Legacy Faculty. Dr. Griffith taught Finance beginning in 1999 until his death this past summer. He was a strong advocate for his students' education, ensuring he prepared them adequately for their future careers. He leaves a strong legacy behind with all who knew him. Edward Amorosso '78 and Kim Curtis '82 were honored this year as our Legacy Alumni. After graduating, Amorosso went on to work at McPhillips, Roberts & Deans, until it was acquired by BDO in 2016, where he is now the Hampton Roads Market Leader. He serves as chair of the dean's executive advisory council, and has spent his career mentoring those who have come behind him, "No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care," says Amorosso about mentorship. After earning her business degree with a concentration in real estate finance from Old Dominion University, Curtis first entered the real estate industry as a property manager with Gifford Realty followed by an entrance into the mortgage industry as a loan officer with RIHT Mortgage Corporation. She was quickly recognized as a top producer positioning her to earn numerous awards and promotions into key leadership roles. She is also a Founding Member of Old Dominion University's Women's Initiative Network (WIN) helping to empower first generation female college students through mentorship, professional development, networking, community engagement, and philanthropy.
Dr. Douglas Ziegenfuss was an honorary nominee this year for his philanthropic contributions not only to Strome and his students, but to the Accountancy field. Dr. Ziegenfuss began his career at ODU in 1988, completing his PhD at VCU the following year and following eight years in public and private accounting. He also served as an officer in the US Coast Guard. Dr. "Z", as he is lovingly known by students and alumni, has been a mainstay of the Strome College's School of Accountancy, serving as the Department Chair for 16 years, and currently as the Director of the MS in Accounting. Importantly, he has also been actively involved in the continuing education of professional accountants in Virginia, offering numerous workshops in ethics and other topics to support their continuing certification. As a result, he has been recognized as a outstanding educator in accounting multiple times. Dr. Z attributes his love of teaching to his parents, and he has endowed two awards in their memory, The Hank Ziegenfuss Scholarship and the Pilar Ziegenfuss Accounting Club Support Fund. These endowments total over $100,000 each. For these and all of Dr. Z's contributions to the College, he was recognized by the Legacy Honors Committee with a special award.
Elizabeth Owusuwaa '17, '20 was this year's Rising Legacy honoree. We took some time to interview Elizabeth about her unique and inspiring journey. Check out the conversation below.
I'd like to focus on your graduate experience in Accounting and the mentorship you received. How do you feel the mentorship you received helped you in your career thus far?
Mentorship was the foundation for my graduate experience. Prior to deciding to pursue my Masters in Accounting through the Strome College of Business, I engaged in numerous discussions with my mentors about the decision. None of them tried to make a decision for me, but instead, provided me with unique perspectives and decision points to support me in my decision. This practice of engaging in candid conversations with my mentors has been a source for success thus far in my career. Those conversations helped to keep me honest, grounded, and hopeful. They have identified doubts, insecurities, dreams, and ideas. Most importantly, those conversations are a constant reminder that I have people in my life who care for me deeply and want to see nothing but the best happen to me. This reminder alone, is a daily motivator to pursue excellence and achieve greatness.
What advice would you give to upcoming Strome students about seeking mentors and have you yourself thought about how you would or could offer similar mentorship to future students?
Get involved in mentorship programs that you find valuable to your career and personal goals. If there aren't any established programs for you, take initiative to identify individuals that fit your goals and seek them out. Be bold and courageous, but have a plan, know what you want to achieve out of the relationship and be ready to articulate those desires.
Currently, I informally mentor students from Strome College of Business as well as Old Dominion as a whole. These students know they can reach out to me at any point and for anything they may need help with. I've also supported students in the Accounting program through studying for final exams, seeking internships, pursuing the CPA certification, and providing tips for successfully completing the Accounting program courses. In the future, I would like to support students through the more formal mentorship channels and programs available. In addition, I would also love to learn more about gap areas within the University or Strome College of Business or a certain student population is not being provided needed support, and to develop new initiatives that can close those gaps.
Please feel free to discuss your overall journey at Strome as well.
My overall journey at Strome was a unique one from my perspective. I started undergraduate studies as a Psychology student. After 2 years of psych courses and general education courses, I soon realized that was not the career I wanted to pursue long term. I was at a crossroads going into my Junior year without a game plan for why I was even in college and what my next steps were. This was one of those pivotal moments where conversations with trusted mentors in my life was a game changer and provided the clarity that I needed. A couple of days after a conversation with a mentor, I had a dream. In the dream, I was in an office wearing a black and white suit. I was standing in front of three men also wearing black and white suits. One of those men handed me a packet, that seemed like some form of job application. All I remember from the rest of that dream was looking at the top of that packet where it read "Elizabeth Owusuwaa" and at the bottom in the Occupation section, it read "Accountant." At the time, I had never heard of an Accountant or what they do. So that dream felt very instructional and seemed to have provided some clarity on my next steps.
Immediately, I started researching the Accounting profession. What I learned in my research was enough to encourage me to try it. I learned more about the Strome College of Business and the Accounting courses provided. After taking ACCT 201 and 202, I realized this was really an area that I enjoyed, and it was worth switching my major. Despite all the naysayers and others telling me it was a terrible and bad decision, I made the difficult decision of becoming an Accounting major in my Junior year of undergrad. As soon as I made that switch, pieces started to shift and fall into place. I was contacted by the Women's Initiative Network to be a part of an executive mentorship program. Through this program, I had lunch with my first ever CPA where I learned what a CPA was and had a tangible example of what my future might look like in the Accounting profession. Through my mentor Marsha Hudgins, I obtained my first Accounting internship in Newport News at a CPA firm. This experience became the foundation for 3 other internships prior to graduation, including a federal government internship during my graduate studies. After completing my undergraduate studies, I was again at a crossroads on my next steps in life. I had conversations with my mentors to discuss my options. Eventually I decided that the best path forward was pursuing my Masters in Accounting based on the advice and guidance I received. This decision allowed me to advance my Accounting knowledge, as well as put me in the position to pursue my CPA certification. Although I was not heavily involved within the Strome College of Business, it provided a safe space and atmosphere for me to learn, study, and prepare for my career.
