American Accounting Association inducts four to its Hall of Fame; Armanino launches professional services industry group; and more news from across the profession.
On the move: FICPA graduates 23 from Leadership Academy
February 14, 2025 12:43 PM
ALABAMA
Warren Averett CPAs, Birmingham, promoted to members, in client accounting services: Amber Stout in Huntsville; in audit: Ana Goodman in Fort Walton Beach; in tax: Charles Emert in Atlanta, Chris Branch in Birmingham, Kathy Rudder in Huntsville, and Pete Loney in Tampa; and in transaction advisory services: Rick Raleigh in Tampa.
Kassouf, Birmingham, promoted: Anita Atkinson and James Dicks to shareholder/directors; Stewart Garner and Dawn Jones to principals; Margaret Novak to manager; Carrie McElroy and Charles Hyde to seniors; and Chris Gunner to associate; and hired: Dwayne Newsome as shareholder in the assurance services group and Eugenia Thompson as a manager leading the client accounting and advisory services practice.
Kassouf, Birmingham, promoted: Anita Atkinson and James Dicks to shareholder/directors; Stewart Garner and Dawn Jones to principals; Margaret Novak to manager; Carrie McElroy and Charles Hyde to seniors; and Chris Gunner to associate; and hired: Dwayne Newsome as shareholder in the assurance services group and Eugenia Thompson as a manager leading the client accounting and advisory services practice.
CALIFORNIA
DELAWARE
FLORIDA
Lydia Bell 2024 invisualpros.co
The American Accounting Association, Lakewood Ranch, announced the four new members of the Accounting Hall of Fame, who will be formally inducted in August as part of the AAA's Annual Meeting in Chicago. The inductees will be: David Bean, longtime director of research and technical activities at the Governmental Accounting Standards Board; Barry Melancon, former president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs and CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants; Terry Shevlin, retired accounting professor; and the late Mary T. Washington Wylie, the first female black CPA in the U.S.
Preeya Voss was appointed chief revenue officer at Schellman, Tampa.
ILLINOIS
Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth, Lake Forest, was included in Newsweek's list of America's Top Financial Advisory Firms for 2025.
Bee Yang was hired as a tax director at ORBA, Chicago.
Barry Melancon, former president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs and CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, was appointed an advisor at Baker Tilly U.S. and a non-executive director and chair-elect at Baker Tilly International. (Read the
Shelley Smith was hired as chief human resources officer at Choreo, Chicago.
INDIANA
MASSACHUSETTS
Chris Wolf was hired as chief growth officer at Walter Shuffain Advisors, Boston.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW YORK
CohnReznick, New York, announced leadership changes: Mike Barber to office managing partner, Texas; Brett Burgan to restructuring and dispute resolution practice leader; Eric Danner to lead the restructuring segment of the practice; Michael Fussman to lead dispute resolution; Jason Burian to regional managing partner, South/West; Emily Butler to office managing partner, Miami; Kash Hussain to office managing partner, San Diego, in addition to his role as office managing partner, Los Angeles; Ryan Mills to office managing partner, Atlanta; Zubin Mistry to South/West regional assurance service line leader; and Wesley Prato to office managing partner, Chicago.
Deloitte, New York, announced the winners of its 2025 Deloitte FanTAXtic competition, challenging university students to tackle a complex business tax case. This year's case asked 16 teams to evaluate the impact of a potential change in the corporate income tax rate on the decision to operate a new business entity as a corporation or a partnership. The national finals were held Jan. 24-25 at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. The first place team was Brigham Young University, Second place was Baruch College, City University of New York, and third place was University of Florida.
Grassi, New York, received the 2025 Best of Accounting award for service excellence from ClearlyRated for the fifth consecutive year.
NEW ZEALAND
Xero, Wellington, appointed Jeff Ryan to chief people officer, to replace Nicole Reid; and Claire Bramley to chief financial officer, both effective April 1.
OHIO
Howard Tucker
CBIZ, Cleveland, appointed six national industry leaders: Michael Brooder, technology and life sciences; Doug Fahrnow, professional services; Seth Goldblum, private equity; Julie Jones, not-for-profit and higher education; Michael Sacco, consumer and industrial products; and Abe Schlisselfeld, real estate.
Brian Chestnut was hired as a director in the business advisory group in the Cincinnati office at KSM.
PENNSYLVANIA
Centri Business Consulting, Philadelphia, promoted: Andrew Jervis to vice president of finance, Elad Yagur to vice president of information security, John Cooney and Nathan Zipkin to director, and Nikki Frazier to director of business development.
TEXAS
©2024 Robert Seale
UTAH
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Monica Modi Dalwadi was appointed managing principal, eastern U.S., at Baker Tilly, succeeding Fred Massanova, who is now the firm's chief growth officer. Frank Walker, a national practice leader for Baker Tilly's transaction and financial advisory practice, will step into Dalwadi's former role as managing principal for the D.C. Metro region, in which she has served since 2019.
Mackenzie Hughes
