Roby Sawyers, professor of accounting and director of undergraduate programs at North Carolina State University's Poole College of Management, received the AICPA's Arthur J. Dixon Award. Also, Jamie C. Yesnowitz, principal and leader of State and Local Tax, and Jeff Martin, a partner and tax technical leader in compensation and employee benefits, both in Grant Thornton's Washington National Tax Office, received Jonathan Horn Distinguished Service Awards.
The Arthur J. Dixon Award, the highest award given in the area of taxes, recognizes a CPA who demonstrates professionalism in the spirit of Dixon, who was a leader in the profession, serving on various state society and AICPA committees, with a long record of service to the Tax Division. Sawyers specializes in federal estate tax issues, North Carolina's tax structure, behavioral aspects of income tax decision-making, tax patents, and state and local tax. For more than two decades he has participated as a chair or member on numerous AICPA task forces, committees, and technical resource panels (TRPs), including serving as chair of the Tax Legislation Task Force and as a member of the Tax Practice Responsibilities Committee.
The Jonathan Horn Tax Division Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding current contributions to the Tax Division. The award name was recently changed to posthumously honor Jonathan Horn, a former TRP volunteer, AICPA staff member, and past recipient of the award.
Yesnowitz is a member of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee and serves as the committee's liaison to the State and Local Taxation TRP, of which he also was a previous member and chair. Yesnowitz has represented the AICPA in testifying before Congress on the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision's impact on small businesses and before the Multistate Tax Commission. Yesnowitz often represents the AICPA on state and local taxation issues with organizations such as the Council On State Taxation, Tax Executives Institute, and the American Bar Association. He also often assists the AICPA with press inquiries and has authored articles in The Tax Adviser.
Martin is the immediate past chair of the AICPA Employee Benefits Tax TRP and is the tax chair for the AICPA Employee Benefit Plans Conference. He is a regular speaker at AICPA conferences and has written articles in the JofA and The Tax Adviser.
