The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has recognized three CPAs for their leadership efforts in pushing the accounting profession forward.
Recipients were honored at NASBA’s 114th Annual Meeting, held online and in person in San Diego, earlier this month.
Recipients and their awards include:
- Mark Harris of Lafayette, Louisiana, received the William H. Van Rensselaer Public Service Award, which recognizes professionals who have developed a new program or improved a current program for boards of accountancy, or who have shaped the passage of rules or statutes to strengthen accountancy regulations. Harris previously served as NASBA chair from 2011-2021, and as a member of the State Board of CPAs of Louisiana from 1996-2016. During Harris’s time as NASBA chair, the Diversity Task Force was established and the Legislative Support Committee were established, and NASBA’s mission was updated to include advancing the common interests of the boards of accountancy. Harris is a former chair of NASBA’s Awards, Communications, Compliance Assurance and Nominating Committees, Diversity Task Force, and Past Chair Advisory Council, where he remains a member. He was also co-chair of NASBA’s Education Committee when the Accounting Education Research Grants Program was formed.
- Barbara Ley of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, received the NASBA Distinguished Service Award, which highlights professionals who have “demonstrated an unswerving commitment and dedication to enhancing the mission of NASBA.” Ley is a former chair of the CPA Examination Review Board from 2016-2017, a former Southwest Region representative on NASBA’s Nominating Committee, and a former member of NASBA’s CPA Licensing Examinations and Education Committees. Ley is also a former chair, vice chair, secretary and member of the Oklahoma Accountancy Board, and a former president, treasurer, secretary and member of the board of directors and Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Society of CPAs.
- Randall Ross of Choctaw, Oklahoma, received the Lorraine P. Sachs Standard of Excellence Award, which recognizes current state board executives or administrators who have contributed to improving the effectiveness of accounting regulation on the local and national levels. Ross serves as the executive director for the Oklahoma Accountancy Board. He also chaired NASBA’s Executive Directors Committee from 2017-2018, and as liaison to the NASBA board of directors. Ross is currently a member of NASBA’s Legislative Support Committee, and a former member of NASBA’s CBT Administration, Enforcement Resources, Executive Directors and Peer Review Compliance Committees, and the Joint ALD/ERC Subcommittee.
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