Frank Kenneth Ross
Frank Kenneth Ross is a retired KPMG partner, a co-founder and first president of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), a former director of the Howard University School of Business Center for Accounting Education (CAE), a founding member of the AICPA & CIMA National Commission on Diversity & Inclusion (NCDI), an author, and a visiting professor. Most importantly to Ross, he has been a mentor, inspiration, and role model for minorities who have achieved senior-level accounting positions as well as for individuals who have established their own accounting firms.
Ross was one of the first black CPAs to become a partner in an international accounting firm. During his 38-year career with KPMG, he served as Mid-Atlantic Area Managing Partner for Audit and Risk Advisory Services, Managing Partner of the Greater Washington, DC offices, member of KPMG’s Board of Directors, and Chairman of the KPMG Foundation Board of Directors.
In 1969 when he was 26 years old, Ross and eight other Black professionals founded the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Today, NABA has more than 10,000 members across the country. It has awarded over $11 million in scholarships to students who have entered the accounting profession. He later served as Director of the Howard University School of Business CAE. The Center works to attract students to the accounting profession and then provides programs to help them become leaders. To date, more than 3,500 students and young professionals have participated in and benefited from CAE programs.
He is a graduate of the Brooklyn, NY Campus of Long Island University (LIU) where he received his BS and MBA degrees. Ross received his initial CPA Certification from New York State in early 1969. He has received many honors for his service to the community as well as to the profession. He was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees from LIU and the University of the District of Columbia. In 2014, he received the AICPA’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Service.
Throughout his career, Ross has been instrumental in building awareness of the unique challenges and limited opportunities Blacks faced in the accounting profession. Former colleagues praise him for being a role model, a calming voice when needed, and an outspoken voice when required.
His co-authored book Quiet Guys Can Do Great Things, Too, tells his life story from immigrant to successful CPA. Blacknews.com describes the book as “a classic and triumphant American tale, a parable of how one man’s awe and inspiration at life’s possibilities was not thwarted or halted by the darker realities of racism, segregation, and discrimination.” The book is available on Amazon.
Frank Kenneth Ross is the 119th inductee to 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.