New fellowship honoring Melancon will support doctoral students

The AICPA Foundation has launched the Barry C. Melancon Professional Accounting Research (PAR) Fellowship in honor of the outgoing CEO’s decades of service to AICPA & CIMA.

“I have been fortunate to spend my career as an advocate for our great profession. The passion that I have had for the profession and the spirit of everything that I did was for the betterment of the profession and the people within,” Melancon, CPA, CGMA, said in a news release. “It is a personal joy to be able see the creation of a fellowship in my name to encourage others to contribute to the profession’s benefit, advancement, and future.”

Two fellowships will be awarded each academic year beginning in 2025 — one to support a doctoral student undertaking practical research to advance the science of public accounting and one to a doctoral student doing the same in management accounting.

Applications will be open year-round, with an annual deadline of March 15 for the upcoming academic year. Winners will be announced in early June, and grants will be distributed each fall based on the cost of the applicant’s research project and the financial needs of the applicant. During the fellowship year, Melancon PAR Fellows will perform the research identified in their applications and provide periodic updates to the Foundation Board of Trustees about their findings.

“Barry devoted his more than 30-year career to advancing the trust and influence of the public and management accounting profession,” Tracey Golden, chair of the AICPA Foundation Board of Trustees, said in a news release. “Dedicating this fellowship in Barry’s honor will sustain his ongoing commitment to the future of our great profession.”

In July, Melancon announced his retirement, effective at the end of the year. Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA, will assume the role, effective Jan. 1, 2025.

More information, including application requirements, will be available on the This Way to CPA website. For information on supporting the fellowship, visit the AICPA Foundation giving page

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com