Inside AICPA

Carving a niche for PFS…Hall of Fame grows…Gold Medal winners named…Institute seeks “top educator” nominations…Medal of Honor awarded…Tax excellence recognized.

AICPA Educates Women About PFS Value
January 13 marks the beginning of the Institute’s second annual Women’s Financial Health Week public education campaign (www.womensfinancialhealthweek.com) in support of the personal financial specialist (PFS) credential. Money magazine will cosponsor the event, as it did in 2002. The program supplies women with useful information on financial matters, such as savings and retirement planning, and shows them how CPA/PFS practitioners can help them achieve their financial goals. Last year, the campaign reached 18 million women through print and broadcast media and won an award for excellence from the Public Relations Society of America.

Four Enter Hall of Fame
The AICPA and Ajilon Finance, which provides accounting and financial staffing services, inducted several CPAs into the Institute’s Business & Industry Hall of Fame in October: Don L. Blankenship, Larry Weber, Vernon D. Evans and Joseph T. Wells. The awards recognize the inductees’ commitment, business knowledge, accounting expertise and integrity.

Institute Honors Kirtley and Williams
The AICPA presented Gold Medals for Distinguished Service—its highest award—to Olivia Kirtley, CPA, former Institute chairperson, and Doyle Z. Williams, CPA, dean of the University of Arkansas’s Sam M. Walton College of Business, during the fall council meeting.

Institute Seeks Top Achievers in Accounting Education
To recognize accounting educators for excellence in teaching and national prominence in the profession, the AICPA asks state societies and others for nominations for the 2003 AICPA Distinguished Achievement Award in Accounting Education. They are due February 1. Candidates must be current full-time educators at, or recently retired from, a postsecondary educational institution; distinguished for excellence in classroom instruction; involved in curriculum development; and must contribute to the accounting profession and exemplify the CPA Vision philosophy. This AICPA Web site (www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/laaea.htm) contains additional information about the award.

Hunnicutt Lauded for Career Contributions
The AICPA bestowed its Medal of Honor on John E. Hunnicutt, who retired in October after serving for 11 years as senior vice-president of public affairs at the Institute. The award recognizes non-CPAs who served the profession well.

Padwe Wins Top Tax Award
Gerald W. Padwe, CPA, right, vice-president of taxes, received from Robert A. Zarzar, CPA, chairman of the tax executive committee, the Institute’s Arthur J. Dixon award, the profession’s highest honor for achievement in the area of taxation. The annual prize is in memory of a CPA known for his outstanding service to the tax profession and the AICPA tax division.