Gordon Peter Wilson (1946-2020)
Gordon Peter “Pete” Wilson held the Joseph L. Sweeney Chair of Accounting at Boston College. He was an exemplar of a master teacher and scholar who devoted his career to helping colleagues and members of the American Accounting Association become better accounting teachers and researchers. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University (1985). Before his appointment at Boston College in July 1997, he taught at Stanford University (1985-1989), Harvard University (1989-1994), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1994-1997).
First and foremost, Wilson was a master teacher who became a teacher-of-teachers, who inspired others to make a difference. His overarching goals were to help students and other educators develop robust conceptual frameworks to navigate complexity and uncertainty; build relationship skills that promote effective and rewarding interactions with others; and gain a passion for lifelong learning. The aim was a more prosperous society.
Evidence of students’ and colleagues’ respect for Wilson is provided by the many awards he earned: Distinguished Teaching Award (Stanford Business School, 1988); Teacher of the Year Award (MIT Sloan School of Management, 1995), the AAA Outstanding Educator Award (2005), Teaching with New Media Award (Boston College, 2009, 2010), AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award (2010), AAA Two-Year Section Life-Time Achievement in Accounting Education (2014), AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Innovation in Accounting Education Award, and the J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize (2016), the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher. When complimented on the many awards he had received, Wilson often responded that the students were largely responsible for the success of his classes. He described becoming a great teacher as a journey from me (the teacher) to we (the students and teacher). Many of his most popular and widely used educational materials were developed with his wife and collaborator Carolyn Ruth Wilson.
Wilson’s teaching philosophy and passion for student learning reached beyond the classroom. For example, he was the 2002-2003 President of the American Accounting Association, extending his influence to a national and global audience of accounting educators and professionals. This was amplified through his work on the Accounting Education Change Committee (1993-1996) and the Pathways Commission (2013).
Wilson’s lasting contributions to accounting research include seminal articles disentangling the differential contributions of earnings and cash flows to stock price reactions to a company’s annual report (e.g., “The Incremental Information Content of the Accrual and Funds Components of Earnings After Controlling for Earnings, The Accounting Review, April 1987) and showing the magnitude and timing of corporate decisions associated with major changes in tax regulation (e.g., “Tax Planning, Regulatory Capital, and Financial Reporting Strategy for Commercial Banks, Review of Financial Studies, 1990 with Myron Scholes and Mark Wolfson). He supervised the Ph.D. dissertation of six students. His influence was evidenced in his work as a member of faculty for sixteen AAA/Deloitte Foundation/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortia.
Upon the award of emeritus status at Boston College, he and Carolyn moved to Tampa, Florida to be closer to family.
Gordon Peter Wilson is the 117th member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.
Charles Howard Noski
Charles Howard Noski, born August 23, 1952, in Eureka, California, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wells Fargo & Company in March 2020. He is a retired vice chairman and chief financial officer of Bank of America Corporation. He was chief financial officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation from 2003 until 2005 and a member of Northrop Grumman’s board of directors. Noski was chief financial officer of AT&T Corporation from 1999 until 2002 and vice chairman of the board of directors during 2002. From 1990 until 1999, he served in senior leadership positions with Hughes Electronics Corporation, including chief financial officer, president and chief operating officer, and a member of the board of directors.
Noski began his accounting career as a staff accountant at Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte) in 1973 and rose to partner with Deloitte & Touche, where he served some of the firm’s largest and most complex clients. Noski is lead independent director of Booking Holdings Inc., and a director and member of the finance and investment committee of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. He previously served as a director and chairman of the audit committee of Microsoft Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Avon Products, Inc., Booking Holdings Inc., and Wells Fargo, and as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (2016-2019), chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, and a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Noski is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), and the Audit Committee Leadership Network-North America, and served as an inaugural member of the Ernst & Young Independent Audit Quality Committee (2019-2020). He was inducted into the inaugural class of the FEI Hall of Fame in 2006. Noski earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accountancy from California State University, Northridge. A long-time supporter of accounting education, he received the school’s distinguished alumnus award in 2002, and an honorary doctorate in 2007. He and his wife Lisa have endowed the Noski Family scholarships for accounting students at Northridge. Noski’s impact includes his public service at the Financial Accounting Foundation and his deep and far-reaching experience across multiple facets of the accounting profession.
From his role as Chairman of the Board of Wells Fargo, to serving as chief financial officer for some of the world’s preeminent organizations, to his early days as an auditor, he has led from the front on numerous accounting issues for nearly 50 years and served as a model and mentor to many.
Charles Howard Noski is the One Hundred and Tenth member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.