Stetson University graduate student Webb Shephard of DeLand, who comes from a long family line of Stetson graduates, is one of 50 students awarded the Becker Professional Educational Scholarship this year. Shephard will graduate May 7 with a master’s degree in accounting.

Annually, Becker offers a one-time scholarship of $3,000 to 50 students who plan to take the CPA exam. The scholarship enables students to meet the financial obligations of preparing to pass the exam by covering the enrollment fees for the Becker CPA preparation course. The scholarship was presented earlier this month by Becker Professional Education Field Marketing Specialist Andrea Josiah.

“The Becker Scholarship means so much to me,” Shephard said. “It’s a real honor to have been chosen by my professors and everyone else who had a hand in the decision process. I was literally speechless when Andrea Josiah from Becker called. There are many talented and well-deserving folks amongst my peers, so it’s quite an honor to be recognized in that prestigious crowd.”

Upon his graduation in May, Shephard plans to take the CPA exam and start his career as a staff accountant with James Moore & Co. in Daytona Beach in November. “It seems like a great place to work and learn, so I hope to stay with them for as long as they’ll have me, striving to become a partner,” he said.

Shephard comes from a long line of Stetson graduates. His degree will be the 25^th Stetson degree earned by a member of his family. Shephard’s parents, Kenton A. Shephard, CPA, and Gail Wadsworth, the Flagler County Clerk of the Circuit Court, are both Stetson alumni. Shephard’s aunt, Wilhelmina Wadsworth, received the 23^rd Stetson degree in the family, and his sister, Frances Shephard Simons, graduated in 1992. His great-grandfather, Frank E. Faulkner, was the first member of the family to receive a Stetson degree, in the early 1900s.