For Jeff Adeli, professional success is rooted in his ability to build relationships.

Adeli serves as a partner in the assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Philadelphia office. He’s also the partner responsible for the firm’s recruiting relationships at Temple University, regularly bringing PwC to his alma mater for on-campus recruiting.

In his role, Adeli meets with accounting students at the Fox School of Business to determine if they will be a proper fit for PwC. But, as Adeli said, his ties to the students do not end there.

“You can’t understand a student’s goals, professional aspirations, and dreams by asking him or her about their GPA,” Adeli said. “What becomes important is your energy, personality, charisma, and ability to engage. I ask them about their interests, why they chose the Fox School, and whether they enjoy city living, for example. It’s in an attempt to deeply understand who these students are, beyond what you can learn about them from a number like GPA.”

Adeli relishes his work in this area, particularly because it returns him to Temple. The 43-year-old graduated from the Fox School in 1997, after earning his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting. He said his business studies at the Fox School, coupled with his involvement in Beta Alpha Psi, one of the School’s accounting-based student-professional organizations, made him a more well-rounded graduate.

“I think Beta broadened my awareness of the accounting profession,” he said. “I was a first-generation college graduate who started as a non-declared liberal arts major in history. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, and accounting widened my scope and understanding of where I could go in life.”

Among his professional highlights, Adeli spent two years in Dusseldorf, Germany, working with one of PwC’s largest audit clients. Not only did the experience afford him the opportunity to broaden his cultural awareness and deepen his professional experience, but his wife Lori delivered one of their three children during their time abroad.

“Working abroad was one of the best life experiences I’ve ever enjoyed,” Adeli said. “I had an opportunity to work in Germany and I jumped at it. The students I speak with today are always interested in that bullet point on my resume, and I tell them that my opportunity (to work in Germany) came about through upholding a continuous level of high performance and always looking to grow my career.”

Today, Adeli has 20 years of experience working with clients in a broad range of industries, including consumer products, technology, telecommunications, and more. He has worked with SEC registrants, large privately-held companies, and private equity and venture capital funds.

And as a member of the Accounting Circle, a group of noteworthy business leaders who support excellence in accounting education at the Fox School, he has more than one opportunity to contribute to the future of accounting students at Temple.

“It’s incredible to watch the growth and development of Temple University from up close,” he said. “The campus looks much different from when I attended, and it’s exciting to see the changes and evolution of it into a world-class university. I love the opportunity to come back; I truly do.”