James J. Benjamin Lifetime Service Award

PwC and APLG are honored to award and name its inaugural Lifetime Service Award to James J. Benjamin of Texas A&M University. 

Jim Benjamin is the Deloitte Foundation Leadership Professor and head of the accounting department at Texas A&M University.  Jim earned both his MBA and Doctorate of Business Administration from Indiana University after receiving his CPA license in Maryland.  In over 37 years as department head, Jim Benjamin has touched the lives of countless Aggies and affected the development of accounting education as he guided the growth of a very successful and influential accounting program. 

He has been a committed member of both APLG and the American Accounting Association as well as FSA.  His service has been impactful, serving on three committees which discussed the bringing together of APLG and FSA, two organizations he has served so faithfully.  In fact, the outcome of one of those committees was the joint seminar which we are all enjoying today.  He has also served on the annual program committee as well as taking on the job of vice president twice, once for accreditation and once for academic standards.  He also served on the APLG/AAA Advocacy Committee.   During our most recent study of combining APLG and FSA, he provided the institutional memory for all that had come before.  During his years at FSA, he brought his expertise to the accreditation committee and chaired the nominating and awards committees as well as serving as president for the 2004-05 year. 

In accounting practice he served as a member of the KPMG Educator Advisory Committee for six years and chair of the AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award Task Force.   

There is so much more that we could say about Jim’s impact on his department, his school, the APLG, AAA, and the accounting profession. But we will conclude simply by saying that we are so honored to name this award after Jim. We can’t imagine anyone ever meeting the incredibly high bar for length of service that Jim has set, or come close to the number of lives he has influenced for good as department chair.  The APLG and PwC are delighted to honor him this year and others in his name in the future.

Executive Committee

President
Anne Magro, George Mason University

Co-Past Presidents
Greg Sommers, Southern Methodist University
Gary Peters, University of Arkansas-Fayettville 

President-Elect (1-year term then becomes President)
Gary A. McGill, University of Florida

Secretary-Treasurer (2-year term) 
James C. Hansen, Weber State University

Vice-President-Programming and Organizational Value (1-year term)
Rebecca Shortridge, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Vice-President-Elect-Programming and Organizational Value (1-year term)
Andee Hodo, Auburn University

Vice President-Leadership Development (1-year term)
Jennifer L. Chapman, University of Georgia

Vice President-Elect-Leadership Development (1-year term)
Danny Lanier, Jr., Elon University

Vice President-Constituent Engagement and Advocacy (1-year term)
Michael Kimbrough, University of Maryland-College Park

Vice President-Accounting Education Quality
Nelson U. Alino, Quinniapiac University

Council Representative (3-year term)
Sharon Lassar, University of Denver