Eric Salisbury (McIntire ’25, M.S. in Accounting ’26) is readying himself for the next chapter in his academic narrative. He’ll be spending part of his summer as an intern in EY’s Forensics & Integrity Services practice in Washington, DC. But then he’s returning to McIntire in the fall to pursue an M.S. in Accounting.
It’s another example of the Accounting and IT concentrator from Stafford, VA, taking a path that offers a deliberate approach to his career planning and continued academic excellence to support his future professional life.
Salisbury credits his McIntire professors for shaping his educational journey, singling out Organizational Behavior with Professor David Lehman. “That was one of my favorites. Professor Lehman’s one of the nicest professors I’ve ever had,” he says. “His class is always super entertaining since he’s a very good lecturer and understands how to keep things engaging.” Salisbury especially enjoyed the mock negotiation activities. “They were a lot of fun because you’d be with different people from your block each week—and some were people I hadn’t worked with before, so it was cool to be able to do something with them,” he says, appreciating the strategic approaches required, as well as the unexpected and sometimes heated results of role-playing business negotiations.
Equally impactful was Salisbury’s experience in the Accounting for Decision-Making course with Professor Andrea Roberts. “Out of all the Accounting classes I’ve taken, that one may have been the most practical because it’s a higher-level Accounting class. The course is basically asking, ‘Now that you know all the basics, how do you use them to inform your decision-making and drive your strategy?’ Professor Roberts was very kind, and her lectures are always enjoyable—sometimes it’s hard to make accounting enjoyable,” Salisbury admits.
Salisbury’s internship experiences at NCIS and YHB have further enriched his professional readiness. At NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service)—which he is quick to explain was not nearly as exciting as the TV show of the same name—he was involved in business operations, gaining valuable insights working with their procurement division and supporting their internal audits. At YHB, he welcomed the opportunity to work across various aspects of accounting. “Because they’re small compared to the Big Four accounting firms, I was able to do a little bit of everything—audit stuff, tax stuff—and I was able to work with a whole bunch of different clients,” he notes, valuing the breadth of exposure granted by the regional Maryland/DC/Virginia-area firm. “I was really glad that I went somewhere a little smaller and got the ability to see a whole bunch of different things,” he says, underscoring his appreciation for varied experiences.
An advocate for community service, Salisbury played a pivotal role planning service projects as a member of Commerce Council’s Volunteering and Community Engagement committee. He was involved in planning for the Commerce Day of Service, an annual event that achieved great success in its latest iteration. “We had a great turnout,” he reports. “We partnered with four different organizations this year. I was at Habitat for Humanity the whole day, and we were also with Camp Holiday Trails, which is an organization that has a sleepaway camp for kids with special needs; the SPCA animal shelter; and the Ivy Creek Foundation, a wildlife conservation organization.”
Aside from committee roles, Salisbury is actively engaged with InterVarsity, a fellowship at UVA, where he serves as a small group leader. “I’ve had a bunch of different roles in my time at UVA with them, but right now, I’m a small group leader,” he explains. Leading weekly Bible study sessions, Salisbury contributes to fostering a supportive and enriching community environment for students.
Even though he’s an Accounting major, it hasn’t been all serious business. Salisbury recalls, “For Halloween this year, my ICE group all dressed up as the Big Four,” he says, explaining that he and his fellow Accounting concentrators who took many of the same courses together decided to tape printouts of the firm’s logos to their t-shirts. “A lot of people probably had no idea what we were, but the people who did thought it was hilarious,” he says with a laugh. “Accounting, nerdy humor.”
