Beta Alpha Psi Honors Student Who Has Overcome Hardships

Eric Fox, an accounting graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, received Beta Alpha Psi’s first Medal of Inspiration Award.

The award, sponsored by the AICPA and presented at the Beta Alpha Psi 2008 annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., included a $5,000 cash stipend, which Fox used to begin his MBA program this fall.

The Medal of Inspiration is given to a student who has experienced extreme hardships in his or her life and who has demonstrated an unusually high level of success despite that adversity.

Fox has faced a lifelong struggle with autism. As he was completing middle school, he was determined to stop being enrolled as a special education student. When he reached high school, he was placed in regular classes and graduated as valedictorian. He later graduated with an A average from Citrus Community College, where he also received the Key of Knowledge Award. Fox then enrolled at California State University as a business administration major with an accounting concentration.

He was chosen by his peers to serve as president of Beta Alpha Psi’s Beta Lambda chapter and to chair the 2007 Fall Awards Breakfast at the school. Last spring, he was selected to be the undergraduate representative on the university’s Accounting Advisory Board, served as co-chair of the Beta Lambda Chapter’s 2008 Spring Awards Banquet and interned at The Walt Disney Co.

Beta Alpha Psi is an honorary organization for financial information students and professionals. Its primary objective is to encourage and recognize scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field.