The AAA has a Rich History, Captured in Three Volumes

These volumes provide insights into the accounting academy and profession from 1916 – today.

How it Began: The Founding of the Association

Lacking a vehicle for sharing experiences and ideas on instructional matters, a small group of accounting teachers met privately on December 30, 1915, during the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in Washington and resolved to form an organization that would serve their needs.  They composed a letter that was sent to accounting teachers in some 150 universities and colleges in which they proposed “the organization of an association of instructors in accounting in the various universities” with four purposes:

• To promote more intimate and cordial relations among such instructors.
• To offer an opportunity for the discussion of subjects of interest in the field of accounting and accounting instruction.
• To institute plans tending toward the standardization of accounting courses in instructions of university grade.
• To formulate a policy with regard to transfers of students from one institution to another.

Text from American Accounting Association: Its First 50 Years 1916-1966 by Stephen A. Zeff
Click HERE to continue reading. 

To read more on the history of the American Accounting Association contact Pat Stein at  info@aaahq.org and she can assist you with ordering the history books listed below.  The first two issues are available only in print and the third issue is available by clicking on the title and downloading the pdf version.  

 

American Accounting Association, Its First 50 Years—1916–1966
By Stephen A. Zeff. An excerpt from "The Setting:"
"The first two decades of the twentieth century were a formative period for accounting in the United States: three of today's four major national accounting organizations were founded; an accounting literature sprouted and grew; and most important, accounting education had its true beginnings."
Members or Nonmembers $10.00

The Third-Quarter Century of the American Accounting Association—1966–1991
By Dale L. Flesher.
An excerpt from the Preface:
"The completion of this work coincides with the 75th anniversary of the American Accounting Association—the premiere organization in the world for accounting educators. This volume is intended as an extension of the 50th anniversary history published in 1966, and thus does not overlap any material found in the earlier history."
Members or Nonmembers $10.00


Years of Transition: The American Accounting Association, 1991-2016 
By Paul J. Miranti, Jr., Nandini Chandar, and Deirdre M. Collier

An excerpt from the Foreword
“This history has been very deliberately and carefully constructed.  From a historiographic perspective, it focuses upon major themes that have emerged in the past 25 years of the AAA, the chapters being built to reflect those key themes.”

• Download the full text version of this text.  (updated 2018 version)
• Download the errata to store with the original text. (errata for original 2016 printed version)