Ryan Lesser
Ryan Lesser (B.A. Accounting ’18, M.S. Accounting ’19) was accepted to a prestigious postgraduate internship with the Financial Accounting Standards Board. In the last five years, only two other Michigan State University graduates have been selected to fulfill this role.
Lesser’s new Postgraduate Technical Assistant position will move him out to FASB’s office in Norwalk, Connecticut. As a PTA, he will be assigned to and involved in all phases of major agenda projects with opportunities to attend meetings pertaining to the projects.
The qualifications necessary to be accepted into this position are rigorous. Along with submitted essays and an oral statement, candidates must be enrolled in a graduate program in accounting and receive a nomination from a member of the department with approval from the dean.
“In order to obtain this position, I believe it was a combination of the skill sets I acquired during my undergraduate and graduate career here at the Broad College,” Lesser said. “I maintained a strong GPA, held leadership positions in the Accounting Student Association as the course coordinator for Accounting 202 and further developed my communication skills through an internship at Billhighway and PwC.”
While his hard work is what set him apart from other candidates, Lesser credits his success to the skills and knowledge he gained from the Broad College of Business and from members of the accounting department.
“The Broad College of Business has been one of the biggest impacts on preparing me for this opportunity. Without Professor Acito’s ACC 808 class, I would have never gained an interest in derivatives and hedge accounting, which eventually led me to pursue this opportunity,” Lesser said.
“I also want to thank Shannon Mullaly, Chris Hogan and the rest of the accounting department for nominating and supporting me throughout the process. Since the day I stepped onto campus as a freshman in the Residential Business Community, MSU has given me every tool I needed to develop my technical and communication skills for this unique position.”
This spring, as Lesser prepared to graduate, he left current and future Broad College students with some advice to help jump-start their futures.
“Stepping outside of my comfort zone led me to countless opportunities I never thought I would have. I never thought, my first day on campus, my freshman year, I would help coordinate a class of roughly 650 students a semester and teach a class of 40 students every Friday,” Lesser said. “Every tool you need to succeed is here. You just have to find and take advantage of them, especially many outstanding faculty members.”
