Wright State alumna named partner-in-charge of Washington National Tax practice of KPMG

Danielle Rolfes, an accounting graduate of Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business, named partner-in-charge of the Washington National Tax practice of KPMG LLP.

Wright State University alumna Danielle Rolfes was named partner-in-charge of the Washington National Tax practice of KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm.

Rolfes succeeds Manal Corwin, who returned to public service as director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. Rolfes also assumed the role of KPMG’s tax policy lead for the Americas.

Rolfes has co-led the KPMG Washington National Tax International Tax group since 2017. Before taking the position with KPMG, she served as the international tax counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Rolfes said she is excited to meet the challenges of this next step in her career.

“KPMG is on a journey to transform how we go to market and reimagine the way we work. I’m humbled and honored to assume this important role and lead a best-in-class tax technical team at such a pivotal moment,” she said. “Together, we’ll continue to foster Washington National Tax’s already strong collaborative and collegial culture, while at the same time, embedding our specialized knowledge in the business to maximize the value WNT brings to the tax practice and the entire firm.”

A 1997 accounting graduate of Wright State University’s Raj Soin College of Business, Rolfes also holds a Master of Law (taxation) from Georgetown University Law Center and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Even though Rolfes knew she wanted to go to law school, her mother, also a Wright State University alumna, encouraged her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accountancy as a first stepping stone.

“Learning ‘the language of business,’ my mom said, would ensure I could get a job in between college and law school,” said Rolfes. “That was very good advice. Wright State’s accounting program was absolutely top notch and transforming for me personally because the professors took such a personal interest in me and my future.”

She is also grateful that Wright State provided her with several scholarships, which was in line with her desire to not accrue debt given that it would be unavoidable for law school.

“My mom was a single mother who worked very hard to cover the basics, but college savings was not in the cards,” said Rolfes.

In honor of her mother, who passed away in 2009, Rolfes has endowed the Rolfes Family Scholarship to support single parents pursuing an undergraduate degree or MBA from the Raj Soin College of Business to provide a better life for their children.

“After my mother’s divorce, she reentered the job market and made the brave choice to return to Wright State University to complete her undergraduate degree and then her MBA,” said Rolfes. “I wanted to create a scholarship that would ease the financial burden for mothers and fathers who make similar brave choices.”