Tenacity Lands Graduate a Job at Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington D.C.

Alice Abboud began her college journey with an accounting degree from the University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras. She took advantage of a unique partnership between BGSU and the University of Puerto Rico to continue her studies in accounting.

According to BGSU Accounting Professor, Ken Snead, “Alice overcame numerous financial hardships in order to complete both of her graduate degrees at BGSU.”

After completing her Master of Accountancy in 2017, Abboud enrolled in the Master’s of Financial Economics program and graduated in May. She now works as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., in the Division of International Finance. The Board of Governors, appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, oversees the Federal Reserve Banks and plays a major role in making the nation’s monetary policy.

Abboud has high praise for her new, prestigious position. “This job has been a great experience and I am glad to be working with many passionate professionals who love their career like I do.” According to Abboud, her primary tasks at the Federal Reserve are to perform data collection, statistical and econometric analysis, literature reviews, and writing assignments.

She states, “I support economists in the analysis and preparation of current monetary policy issues, forecasts, and short-term economic analysis of their own.”

What prepared her for her financial career is the education she received at BGSU. “My education not only provided me with the academic tools necessary to enter the workforce of my field, but also the soft skills. This came from the ‘community environment’ built by the BGSU College of Business.”

She credits two of her professors - Dr. Snead, accounting, and Dr. Amanda Cook, economics, - for helping her launch her successful career. “They would always encourage me to look further. They gave me feedback on my academic work and served as support in good and difficult times.”

Dr. Cook and Abboud co-authored a research paper entitled "Differential Rates of Medicaid Uptake for Hispanics and Spanish Speakers under the Affordable Care Act" which Abboud presented at the Midwest Economics Association Annual Conference in Chicago.

Abboud’s advice for current students is to “build leadership skills that are focused on research and information sharing.”  She adds, “Students should challenge and not limit themselves only to the information they are given. They should instead take time to analyze and really understand why and what are they doing in their academic life.”