The Burke Family

John – ’96, Accounting
James – ’02 Accounting
Edward – ’06, Accounting

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The three Burke brothers started their careers as accountants after they earned degrees from what is now SDSU’s Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy.

“SDSU had a great reputation as a business school,” said John, the first brother to graduate. “I made the decision to major in accounting during my first accounting course.” 

The oldest brother, James, used his GI Bill benefits to enroll at SDSU in 1999 after serving five years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Motivated by John’s early success, James enrolled as an accounting major. “Following in John’s footsteps once again, I was fortunate enough to be elected president of the Student Accounting Society,” said James. “The friendships I made there are still with me today.” 

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The youngest of the brothers, Edward, came to SDSU as an undeclared freshman, but said he “quickly noticed that the classes I enjoyed most were in business.” He, too, became an accounting major. After serving as president of SDSU’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter, Edward graduated (cum laude) in 2006.

All three brothers have used their business and accounting acumen to achieve new levels of success beyond the accounting industry: John is currently the chairman and CEO of the artificial intelligence (AI) business platform company, UBIX AI; James recently founded his own financial consulting organization, Harper James LLC; and Edward is living in Costa Rica and serving as the director of business architecture for 5P Consulting. 

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While they have evolved into different industries, the Burkes agree that hard work and the diligence they learned at SDSU has paid off for them. “SDSU taught me tremendous discipline,” said Edward. “The accounting program was rigorous, but with hard work, I saw there was also great rewards.”