ACUA 2024 Award Winners and Board Members

Publication Date: November 15, 2024

By C&U Journal Staff

Congratulations to the following 2024 award winners and new board members announced during AuditCon in Atlanta:

Outstanding Professional Contributions Award

John McDaniel is currently the Director of Internal Audit at the University of Alabama System and has 25 years of experience in higher education and academic medical center administration, compliance, and risk management. Since 2021, John has been a key member of the ACUA Professional Education Committee, contributing to the success of several AuditCon events, and currently serves as the Director of Audit Interactive. John also plays an active role on the ACUA Standards and Best Practices Committee, was instrumental in founding the ACUA Sideline Committee alongside other ACUA members and has published many articles in the ACUA journal and for other organizations. John is also a dedicated participant and leader in external Quality Assurance initiatives for fellow ACUA members and has served in leadership roles outside of ACUA.

Rising Star Awards

Jocelyn Edge joined the Duke University internal audit department in 2021 and has embraced the higher education industry. Jocelyn has already made significant contributions to ACUA by serving as presenter at several AuditCons. Serving on the Communications Committee, Jocelyn  supports social media content creation, design, posting and coordination with other committees. She took the initiative to standardize social media request processes to ensure individuals and committees have a clear path to promote ACUA activities and announcements. She continues to develop innovative ways to increase content posting to reach our members across several platforms and introducing video content to help engage members.

Erin Egan is the director of audit and advisory services for Rutgers University.Erin has been an active member of ACUA for the past ten years and was a member of the second cohort of the ACUA Leads program. Erin has served in a number of roles for ACUA over the years, including: Governmental Affairs committee co-chair, ACUA Journal article author, Conference speaker and proctor, and Mentor to other members. Erin has served as the director of the Auditing and Accounting Principles (AAP) sub-committee of the Standards and Best Practices committee, which has been focused on the changes to the IIA’s International Professional Practices Framework, specifically those to the new Global Internal Audit Standards.

Please make sure to congratulate our 2024 award winners and thank them for their outstanding work on behalf of ACUA and the profession!

New Board Members

The 2024-2025 ACUA Board of Directors officially assumed their new roles at AuditCon and thanked Melissa Hall, Emory University for her prior role as past-president. The 2024-2025 Board of Directors are: 

• Laura Buchhorn, President, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Nikki Pittman, Vice President, University of Alaska
• Eulonda Whitmore, Secretary/Treasurer, Wayne State University
• Marion Candrea, Immediate Past President, Boston University

ACUA thanked Deidre Melton for her past service as a board member and welcomed Amy Kozak in her new role. The Board Members-at-Large are:

• Jana Clark, Kansas State University
• Kara Kearney-Saylor, University of Buffalo
• William Hancock, Jr., Auburn University
• Andre’ McMillan, University of Delaware
• Amy Kozak, University of California, Santa Cruz

ACUA committee chairs and sub-committee directors were also celebrated at AuditCon.