As a Ph.D. of Financial Economics, Dr. Samir M.A. Hassan knows the value of training and education. An Egyptian national with an illustrious career in the fields of capital markets, finance, auditing, and accounting, Dr. Hassan earned his Ph.D. in 2005 from Ain Shams University, one of the top two universities in Egypt. At the time, Dr. Hassan was serving as an accounting and banking expert with the government of Dubai. Yet despite reaching the pinnacle of educational achievement, Dr. Hassan thought he could go even further. “As I always look to advance my professional skills – seeking perfection, if you will – I decided that after getting my Ph.D., I would start preparing to take my CMA®,” he said.

Dr. Hassan earned his CMA (and later his CFM^®) certification in 2007 while working at the Dubai Financial Market. He served at that organization from 2006 until 2009, first as a senior advisor for risk management, compliance, finance, and audit, and then as vice president, internal audit. 

For Dr. Hassan, the benefits he derived from becoming a CMA were clear and immediate, particularly in his role as auditor.

“I was able to use the knowledge I gained from preparing for the CMA to evaluate the decisions management made during an audit period. As an auditor, that CMA training helped me perform operational and performance audits for all managerial levels,” he said.

Currently, Dr. Hassan serves as an accounting expert with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, and his CMA training continues to prove beneficial to his on-the-job performance. It also helps to impress his clients.

He explained: “The CMA credential is a spotlight directed to anyone working in accounting and finance.  To be certified as a CMA means that I’m a more knowledgeable and experienced professional. In addition, the certification gives me more confidence and adds to my clients’ trust, when they realize that they are dealing with a CMA.”

Given his experience, it’s not surprising that Dr. Hassan has developed into a strong proponent of the CMA certification. Since July 2009, he has been a member of the ICMA^® Board of Regents, the body that oversees the content and strategic direction of the CMA exam. He shares his enthusiasm for the certification with his co-workers and has encouraged many of his peers to also pursue the certification.

“Being certified as a CMA and CFM has inspired a lot of my colleagues and subordinates in all of the organizations where I have worked,” he said. “The CMA is very popular in the Middle East, especially in Egypt.  In fact, Egypt ranks only behind the U.S. in passing rates and number of CMAs.”

From his vantage point both as a practitioner and a Board of Regents member, Dr. Hassan recognizes that the recent changes to the CMA exam are only serving to attract a greater number of professionals to the designation. “It’s obvious from the statistics that more accounting and finance professionals are choosing to pursue their CMA. I think that’s because the revised program is more focused and eliminated some of the repetition of materials and content specifications with other certifications.”

“The CMA program has become more useful and unique,” he concluded. “It’s helping to prepare a whole new generation of more specialized management accountants.”

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