Kelsey Brooke Daniels of Pearson, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2022 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to a high-performing graduating student in each of VSU’s six colleges — Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of the Arts, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Science and Mathematics.

Daniels will be recognized during VSU’s 233^rd Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, on the Front Lawn. She will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting.

“I am honored to be named a top graduate of the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration,” she shared. “I would not have been able to obtain this recognition without the help of the great professors I have had here at VSU.

“Upon transferring to VSU in Fall 2020, I discovered organizations that were targeted to my area of study and that were not offered at my other college. It is through organizations such as the Institute of Management Accountants and Beta Alpha Psi that made me feel welcome here at VSU and provided me with the opportunity to build lasting friendships while gaining invaluable knowledge about my field of study.”

Daniels came to VSU after attending South Georgia State College, where she earned the Libbo Belger Award for Excellence in Business and the Sophomore Academic Achievement Award.

As a student at VSU, Daniels served as director of communications for the student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants and a member of Beta Alpha Psi: The International Honor Organization for Financial Information Students and Professionals and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy Center for Public Trust. She worked as an intern at the Southern Georgia Regional Commission.

Her commitment to academic, service, and leadership excellence resulted in her earning repeated Dean’s List honors and a Certified Management Accountant Scholarship from the Institute of Management Accountants. She was a Georgia HOPE Scholar.

After graduation Daniels plans to continue working as an accounts payable clerk intern for the Southern Georgia Regional Commission while she pursues a Master of Accountancy at VSU.

“My career goal is to become both a certified management accountant and certified public accountant,” she said. “I would also like to ultimately become a controller of an organization.”

Her supportive family includes parents Ben and Sonya Daniels, siblings Wesley and Kelley Daniels, uncle Brett Daniels, and grandparents Sherryl and Raymond Ricketson and Alice and Ron Daniels.