For the third time, the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) has named a Florida International University (FIU) student “National Student of the Year.” Daniel Zamora, a junior majoring in accounting, joins Krystel Ramos (MACC ’08, BACC ’07) and Zameer Upadhya (BACC ’02) as the winner of the highest student award given by ALPFA.

For the seventh consecutive year—each year the awards have existed—ALPFA recognized FIU in two other categories: Zamora as “South Region Student of the Year” and the Florida International University Accounting Association (FIU-AA)-ALPFA as “South Region Student Chapter of the Year.” The student chapter in the College of Business Administration is the largest in the country.

“I am very honored to have received the award on behalf of FIU, which has helped me develop as a person,” said Zamora, who has already served as the student organization’s president. “It’s not an award for me; it’s for everyone who helped me—our executive board, the student members and the School of Accounting—without whom I would never have achieved any of this.”

Hard work and leadership skills position ALPFA members for ongoing success.

The awards recognize Zamora and the chapter for having reached an all-time high of 143 members and implementing new events such as Excel workshops and a Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) panel discussion, to name just two.

“As founder and former president of the chapter I’m proud to see the tradition of excellent leadership continue,” Upadhya said. “Mentoring the last two winners has been even more gratifying than winning the award myself. I hope that they, along with the other members, continue to give back and pay it forward.”

Among the 36 ALPFA members who attended the convention, which took place in Boston, Massachusetts August 8-12, 2009, Zamora, Sasha Cruz, Jovan Dushner, Natalie Gross, Rosmery Osuna and Asia Seuc participated in a KMPG case competition.