Rachel Selisker is one of the Triangle’s most successful professionals. As a 1976 graduate of Wake Tech’s accounting program, Rachel worked at several firms before setting her sights on becoming a Certified Public Accountant. She passed the CPA exam in 1987 and was offered a position as Director of Finance for a small clinical research organization called Quintiles. “It was a wonderful opportunity,” she says, “and I loved what I did.”

As that small company expanded into dozens of countries and added thousands of employees, Selisker stood at the helm as Chief Financial Officer. “If someone had told me this would happen when I first took the job, I would have been intimidated!” she says. Instead, she built on the confidence she had discovered in herself as a student years earlier: “It was at Wake Tech that I realized I could apply myself and learn whatever I wanted to!”

Selisker now works as a consultant and volunteers for several community organizations, including the Wake Tech Foundation Board of Directors, where she is both fundraiser and benefactor. She and her husband, also a Wake Tech grad, donated $25,000 to launch the Scott Scholars Presidential Scholarship Fund, which provides students with an opportunity to pursue studies while participating in leadership development. Her goal is to inspire others to become their best, the same way she was inspired when she was a student. “I attribute a great deal of the success in my career with making the decision to attend Wake Tech.”