KPMG commits $1.5 Million to support the future of accounting at William & Mary
A longstanding relationship between KPMG and William & Mary is entering a new chapter with a $1.5 million commitment from KPMG partners and employees to the Raymond A. Mason School of Business.
The investment will partially support the associate director role of the Estes Center for Excellence in Accounting, helping the Center build lasting connections among students, faculty, alumni, and the accounting profession. Rebecca Reimers is serving as the inaugural associate director.
“It’s about building something from the ground up and creating community,” Reimers said. “I’m thrilled to bring my expertise to the Estes Center and develop a vibrant hub that identifies student needs, develops innovative solutions, and creates meaningful connections that support success both in the classroom and beyond.”
The Estes Center was established in 2025 through a $15 million gift made by Rob W. Estes ’74, P ’06 and his wife Jean Berger Estes ’75, P ’06. Its goal is to expand opportunities for accounting students through career treks, seminars, alumni and corporate engagement, experiential learning, and specialized coursework, while integrating analytics and emerging technologies to prepare the next generation of accounting leaders.
For Alex Woods, Executive Director of the Estes Center, KPMG Peat Marwick Professor of Accounting, and Accounting area head, the significance of the KPMG commitment is rooted in what it allows the Center to build over time.
“Its significance goes beyond its size: it provides the long-term resources to build something enduring,” Woods said. “It gives the Estes Center the capacity to become a distinctive part of the Mason School experience and positions William & Mary to play a meaningful role in developing the next generation of accounting professionals and leaders.”
Building on a longstanding relationship
The commitment also extends KPMG’s decades-long support of William & Mary and its accounting program. The firm previously supported the establishment of a KPMG professorship, and with that endowment fully funded, its partners and employees began looking for another way to make an impact.
For KPMG partners and William & Mary alumni Doug Williams, ’89, P ‘23 and Tim Floyd, ‘03, the Estes Center presented a natural next step.
“We thought it was time to shift our focus to something different that would help the school while also supporting KPMG’s goal to build the next generation of accounting professionals,” Williams explained.
The connection between William & Mary and KPMG is both institutional and personal. Williams first encountered KPMG as a William & Mary student, completing an internship with the firm before launching a career there after graduation. He marked his 37th anniversary with KPMG in August 2026 and his youngest daughter, a 2023 William & Mary Accounting graduate, now works for the firm as well.
“I feel it ties together the important parts of my life and it’s a good way to give back, to create that opportunity for others,” Williams said.
Preparing students for a changing profession
Floyd, who recently marked 23 years with KPMG, sees the Estes Center as an opportunity to build on the strong academic foundation that students already receive while helping them to prepare for a profession that is changing rapidly.
“I always say William & Mary taught me how to think and then somebody at KPMG taught me the rest,” he said. “But I had a tremendous foundation coming out of William & Mary.”
That distinction is increasingly important as technology and artificial intelligence change the work accountants perform. Technical expertise remains essential, but Floyd said the ability to connect with people, communicate effectively, build relationships, collaborate, and use technology productively will increasingly separate successful professionals from their peers.
The Estes Center was created to help connect those evolving expectations with the student experience at the Mason School. In just over a year, the Center has grown from an idea into an operating organization that brings together mentoring, student leadership, employer and alumni connections, hands-on learning, and career support.
The associate director position is an important part of turning that vision into sustained programming.
“Our vision requires much more than creating individual programs. It requires someone who can turn strategy into sustained student experiences,” Woods said.
Building a community around accounting
In her role, Reimers is focused on building an accounting community where students can engage from the time they begin exploring the major through their transition into the workforce.
Those efforts are already taking shape in several meaningful ways. Reimers supervises a team of 24 student assistants, giving students the opportunity to lead smaller teams of peers and develop leadership, project management, and mentoring skills. The Center has also launched “All Things Accounting!”, a centralized newsletter designed to keep students informed and connected with opportunities across the accounting community.
To further support student success, the Center launched peer and professional mentorship programs that can provide one-on-one guidance as students navigate decisions about their major, recruiting, and internships.
For Reimers, however, the larger goal is not simply to add more activities. It is to create a community that students can see themselves as a part of.
“My goal is to create an environment where every accounting student feels seen, supported, and connected. When students have a strong sense of belonging, they gain confidence, engage more deeply in their academic and professional development, and are better positioned for success. I hope they leave the Mason School not only with a degree, but with a lifelong connection to the community they helped build,” she said. “One of the most rewarding parts of this work has been seeing our student assistants become enthusiastic ambassadors for the accounting major. They help foster the welcoming community we're building and are eager to support younger students as they navigate their own paths.”
Relationships with firms such as KPMG help broaden that community while keeping the Center closely connected to changes within the profession. Those partnerships give students access to practitioners who can show them how what they learn in the classroom is applied in practice, while giving the Mason School insight into the skills employers will need from future graduates.
They can also help students see the range of careers an accounting education can support. The Estes Center is working to introduce students to opportunities that extend beyond the traditional perceptions of the profession, including careers in public accounting, consulting, corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, technology, finance, and government.
Investing in what comes next
That broader view is important at a time when the accounting profession is competing for the next generation of talent. Williams said one measure of the partnership’s success will be to attract more students to accounting and helping them understand the continued need for professionals who can solve complex problems that technology alone cannot address. Floyd added that he hopes the Center will further differentiate William & Mary accounting graduates as they enter the workforce.
For Williams and Floyd, supporting that future is also a way to give back to the university that helped them launch their own careers.
“I never know whether I’m trying to pay it back or pay it forward, or maybe I’m doing both,” Floyd said. “I feel like the further I get in my career, the deeper appreciation I have for my four years in Williamsburg.”
As the Estes Center continues to grow, Woods envisions it becoming an integral part of the William & Mary accounting experience, one that draws students to the field, prepares them to succeed in it, and maintains connections among graduates, employers, and the Mason School long after commencement.
The KPMG commitment gives the Center a foundation to pursue that vision over the long term while renewing a relationship between the firm and William & Mary that has already spanned generations of accounting professionals.
“I think it was the right opportunity at the right time,” Floyd said, “to re-energize, build some new momentum, and hopefully make an outsized impact.”