Alumni Spotlight: Emily Klym ’12

Dickinson State University (DSU) alumna Emily Klym has been named to Prairie Business’s 2025 “40 Under 40” list, recognizing young professionals making an impact in their careers and communities across the region.

Growing up in Edgeley, North Dakota, attending DSU meant heading farther west than many of her classmates. But family trips to Medora during her childhood made the area familiar and helped inspire her decision to attend the university.

Klym graduated in May 2012 with bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business administration and a minor in leadership studies. While at DSU, she was part of the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program (TRHLP), which she says helped shape her leadership approach. She also received the Boyde Binde Outstanding Senior in Accounting Award and the TRHLP Outstanding Graduate honor.

During her senior year, Klym served as a business advisor intern at the Small Business Development Center. After graduating, she worked there briefly before joining Brady Martz & Associates, P.C. in Dickinson as an associate. While working, she earned her CPA license in January 2015 and in 2016, she advanced to senior associate.

In 2018, Klym joined the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation (TRMF) as controller. The move required careful consideration, including leaving her longtime position at Brady Martz and arranging daycare for her two young children, as Medora did not have a daycare center at the time.

That decision paid off. In 2022, she stepped into her current role as chief financial officer.

Klym also serves as president of the North Dakota CPA Society and regularly speaks with high school and college students about careers in accounting.

Outside of work, Klym remains active in her community. She volunteers as bookkeeper and Catechism instructor for St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, serves as the Billings County representative on the Southwest Rural Economic Area Partnership Board, and is a leader for the Medora 4-H Club.

Klym and her husband, Steve, are raising their three children, Carter, Hannah, and Conner. She credits DSU with introducing her to her husband. The couple met at her first college dance and married the summer before her senior year. “It was fun to be able to graduate under my married name!” she said.

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Written by Alician Parks – DSU HF Student Writer