Barry C. Melancon, CPA, CGMA 

Barry C. Melancon is the President and Chief Executive Officer at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the national professional association of CPAs, with more than 377,000 members worldwide.  He directs the Institute’s operations in New York; Durham, N.C.; and Washington, D.C.

As head of the largest body of CPAs in the world, Melancon is called upon to represent the Institute with state, national and international organizations and is sought after by key opinion leaders for his expertise. 

Under Melancon, the Institute has spearheaded a number of initiatives designed to benefit not only the profession, but also investors, business owners, lenders and the general public. These include audit quality centers; an Audit Committee Effectiveness Center; private company reporting standards; eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL); the computerized CPA exam; and two consumer financial literacy education programs.

Under Melancon’s leadership, the AICPA and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) developed a joint venture to establish the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation to elevate management accounting globally.

In addition to serving as President and CEO of the AICPA, Melancon is a member of the AICPA's delegation to the International Federation of Accountants, whose broad objective is the development and enhancement of a coordinated worldwide accountancy profession with harmonized standards. He is a member of the board and Chairman of XBRL-US and a founding board member of the Center for Audit Quality, and of the Global Accounting Alliance. He serves on the board of the U. S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, and during 2007-2008, served on the U. S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession.

Prior to joining the AICPA, Melancon served for eight years as Executive Director of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. He began his accounting career in 1979 at a small CPA firm in Louisiana. In 1984, he was elected a firm partner.  Melancon graduated in 1978 from Nicholls State University in Louisiana, majoring in accounting with a minor in government. He also earned an MBA in 1983 from Nicholls State University and subsequently served as an adjunct professor of accounting at his alma mater for four years.