JofA Recognizes Top Authors, Including 2002’s Best.

Joseph T. Wells, CPA, CFE , received from AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon, CPA, the Journal of Accountancy’ s 2002 Lawler Award for the year’s best article. In “ Occupational Fraud: The Audit as Deterrent ” ( JofA , Apr.02, page 24), Wells used actual case studies to show auditors and their clients how to better detect and deter insiders’ occupational fraud. An earlier Wells article had garnered the award in 2000. To acknowledge his outstanding achievement and that of other writers whose work has more than once merited such honors, the JofA established the Lawler Hall of Fame. In addition to Wells, the first members of this distinguished group are Robert Mednick, CPA, former chairman of the AICPA board of directors, and coauthors William D. Hall, CPA, a retired partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., and Arthur J. Renner, CPA, executive director of the Connecticut Society of CPAs. Each won the award twice—Mednick in 1986 and 1988 and Hall and Renner in 1989 and 1991. The annual citation, which earns an author $500 and a commemorative plaque, is named after John L. Lawler, a former JofA editor and AICPA senior vice-president.