Jon Friese Bachelor of Accountancy, 1996 Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Maple Grove, Minn. Throughout his career, Jon Friese has worked with multinational and domestic companies, both public and private. Much of his focus has been with companies in the manufacturing, retail and consumer, and private equity sectors. Jon provides guidance to clients on accounting and financial reporting requirements, operational improvements, and structuring business transactions. He also works closely with the firm’s tax and consulting professionals to provide a wide range of services to his clients. He joined the audit practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Minneapolis after graduation and spent three years there. He and his wife, Alison, also a UND graduate, moved to southern California, where he joined the Los Angeles office of PwC. After six years of enjoying 70-degree winters without snow, he was asked to join the firm’s national office outside New York City. He spent two years as a subject matter expert in accounting for business combinations and stock compensation. In 2007, Jon moved back to the Minneapolis office, and was named a partner in 2009.
Accounting Alumni
Giving back to the community is one of Jon’s passions. He has been heavily involved in developing and implementing PwC’s Minneapolis office strategy for community involvement. He has led volunteer activities that include an event attended by nearly 250 of the firm’s employees that won the 2010 award for Best Caring Connection Project from the Greater Twin Cities United Way. He has also led the Minneapolis office United Way campaign. A board member of Bridging, a non-profit organization that provides families transitioning out of homelessness and poverty with a one-time gift of quality furniture and household goods, Jon’s giving focuses on entities that help families and children in need. The accounting program at UND is also important to Jon, who serves as PwC’s lead relationship partner with the University. He frequently visits campus to meet with faculty and recruit students; there are currently about 50 alumni working for the firm. He serves on the Department of Accountancy’s Alumni Advisory Board. A native of Glasgow, Mont., Jon is married to Alison (Nesemeier), who earned an education degree from UND. They have two sons.
Brent Kukla Bachelor of Accountancy, 1996 Partner, Ernst & Young LLP Minneapolis, Minn. Brent Kukla works with many of Ernst & Young’s largest U.S. and global clients, focusing on banking and capital markets. He serves as a liaison with bank regulatory agencies, and addresses emerging accounting and reporting matters as a member of the firm’s banking and capital markets working group. A native of Scranton, N.D., Brent joined Ernst & Young in 1996, and was promoted to partner in 2010. He has served in the assurance practice for more than 13 years in multiple locations, including Minneapolis (twice), Washington, D.C., and New York City. In 2003, he took a brief hiatus from public accounting to serve as a fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). During his fellowship, he assisted the OCC in the formulation of bank supervision policy and capital standards for the financial institutions supervised by the OCC. He also worked with various task forces of the Basel Committee in addressing bank supervisory matters. Upon completing his fellowship, Brent rejoined E&Y and served as a resident for three years in E&Y’s National Professional Practice Group in New York City, where he was regarded as a subject matter specialist and consultation
resource on various banking industry and financial instrument topics. A member of E&Y’s Minneapolis Inclusiveness Committee, he serves in a leadership role in developing the office’s strategies around diversity, inclusiveness and workplace flexibility. He also has a leadership role with the office’s people and career development processes and frequently serves as an instructor in educational programs. He has been involved in a number of volunteer and community outreach programs, including Junior Achievement and the Minnesota Food Emergency Shelter. While living in New York, he was a guest lecturer for the accounting department at Baruch College. He and his wife, Heather (Johnson), who is also a graduate of UND’s accounting program, reside in Eden Prairie, Minn., with their three sons.
Summer 2011 | The University of North Dakota
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