Skip to Content

William S Smith Award

Certification Award Winners

The IIA is proud to announce the 2021 list of those who have passed certification exams with the highest scores, demonstrating their dedication and passion for the profession. These candidates excelled in the CIA® and CRMA® exams honoring the profession and their respective organizations.

The candidate who scored the highest in the CIA exam will receive the William S. Smith Award, named in honor of William S. Smith, CIA, The IIA's first chairman of the Board of Regents, a former IIA chairman of the board, and a driving force behind the development of the Certified Internal Auditor® (CIA®) program.

Awards are based on individual performance on the core CIA exam parts (Parts 1, 2, and 3). With year-round testing, award recipients must pass each exam part on their first attempt within one year of taking the first exam part.

In 2021, 60,275 CIA exam parts were delivered, and 2,177 certifications granted. Congratulations to all who are committed to delivering a level of excellence to their organization and the internal audit profession.

Due to privacy regulations, not all top score winner names are published. The lists include only those winners who agreed to have their name published.

William Smith

2023 Award Recipients

Gold Medal - Highest Achievement Award: Elisa Pajunen, CIA, Finland
Silver Medal - Award Recipient: Ting Zhao, CIA, Canada
Bronze Medal - Award Recipient: Wang Jiaqi, CIA, China
Student Highest Achievement Award: Ashley Lignoski, CIA, USA

CRMA

Top Winner: Krzysztof Bartoszcze, CIA, CRMA, Poland

2022 Award Recipients

Gold Medal - Highest Achievement Award: Fehr Aljefri, CIA, KSA
Silver Medal - Award Recipient: Joey Sacramento Jr., CIA, Philippines 
Bronze Medal - Award Recipient: Shirley Liwen Zhang, CIA, China
Student Highest Achievement Award: Briana Dincher, CIA, USA

CRMA

Top Winner: Blair Wightman, CIA, CRMA, New Zealand

2021 Award Recipients

Gold Medal - Highest Achievement Award: Theresa Sztuczko, CIA, USA
Silver Medal - Award Recipient: Angela Rianto, CIA, Switzerland
Bronze Medal - Award Recipient: Ruihuan Jasmine Tan, CIA, Singapore
Student Highest Achievement Award: Naeem Ullah, CIA, Pakinstan

CRMA

Top Winner: Aliya Ismayilova, CRMA, Canada

2020 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Andrew Easton, CIA, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Lars Geisler, CIA, Germany
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Kristina Kobus, CIA, Germany
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Silvia Tamburelli, CIA, Italy
Student Highest Achievement Award: Philip Steinmueller, CIA, USA

2019 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Michael Zimmer, CIA, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Anne-Sophie Brumelot, CIA, New Zealand
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Silvia Tamburelli, CIA, Italy
Student Highest Achievement Award: Joshua Castille, CIA, USA

2018 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Alexandra Elena Staeben, CIA, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Ching Nam Leung, CIA, Hong Kong, China
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Emilie McRoberts, CIA, USA
Student Highest Achievement Award: Gannon Burleigh, CIA, USA

2017 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Seyed Paul Arab, CIA, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Steven Dobberkau, CIA, Germany
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Wendy Magno, CIA, USA
Student Highest Achievement Award: Earl O. Jason Gozon, CIA, Philippines

2016 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Sarah Gray, CIA, Canada
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Justin Mahe, CIA, USA
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Maggie Lau, CIA, Canada
Student Highest Achievement Award: Tianye Zhang, CIA, China

2015 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Michelle Hale, CIA, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Justin Swalberg, CIA, USA
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: William Flahr, CIA, USA
Student Highest Achievement Award: Ashley Gervasi, CIA, USA

2014 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Jepson Fuller, CIA, Pugent Sound, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Joy Larisey, CIA, Northwest Metro Chicago, USA
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Brian Lair, CIA, Wichita, USA
Student Highest Achievement Award: Michael Easterday, Central Ohio, USA

2013 Award Recipients

Gold Medal — Highest Achievement Award: Allesandro Segalini, CIA, IIA-Italy
Silver Medal — Award Recipient: Alberto Aimola, CIA, CCSA, IIA-Italy
Bronze Medal — Award Recipient: Mark de Jong, CIA, IIA-Netherlands
Student Highest Achievement Award: Laust Helmig, CIA, IIA–New York, USA

2012 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Juan Carlos Diaz, CIA, IIA-Spain
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Väino Sarnet, CIA, CGAP, IIA-Estonia
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Anna Agnieszka, CIA, IIA-Poland
Student Highest Achievement Award: Wang Yang, CIA, IIA-China

2011 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Robert Bruce Marsden, CIA, IIA-New York, USA
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Douglas Scott Schmidt, CIA, IIA-Indianapolis, USA
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Ömer Kerem Seçkin, CIA, IIA-Turkey
Student Highest Achievement Award: Jeffrey S. Littlejohn, CIA, IIA-Dallas, USA

2010 Award Recipients

Gold Medal – Highest Achievement Award: Igor Gouvêa, IIA-Brazil
Silver Medal – Award Recipient: Henrique de Carvalho, IIA-Brazil
Bronze Medal – Award Recipient: Adriana Rey, IIA-Uruguay
Student Highest Achievement Award: Elaina Arvelo, Philadelphia, PA USA