NEW YORK (May 21, 2006) — Karen V. Pincus, chair of the department of accounting at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, is the national 2006 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Leslie Murphy, AICPA chair, presented the award at the spring meeting of the institute’s governing council, which began May 21 in Salt Lake City.

“The future of our profession is built on the quality and the number of the young people who join us,” Murphy said. “That, in turn, depends on whether quality people decide to study accounting and how well they are trained in their collegiate and post-collegiate education. The institute annually selects a member of the academic community who best serves these truths to receive the award.”

In addition to her role as a department chair in the Walton College, a position she has held since 1995, Pincus holds the S. Robson Walton Chair of Accounting. Prior to the University of Arkansas, she taught at the University of Southern California and the University of Maryland.

Pincus has received numerous recognitions for teaching excellence, curriculum development and service to the accounting academic and practicing professions. Most notably, she received the American Accounting Association Innovation in Accounting Education Award for designing and implementing a totally new curricular approach to accounting education.

Pincus has served the AICPA in many capacities. She is currently a member of the AICPA’s Nominations Committee. She is a past chair of the Pre-certification Education Executive Committee and was a member of the Virtual Grassroots Panel and Accounting Careers Subcommittee. From 2002 to 2005, she was an elected member-at-large of the AICPA governing Council.

In addition, Pincus is president of Beta Alpha Psi, the student professional association. She was president of both the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, the association of accredited graduate accounting programs, and vice president of the American Accounting Association. She also served on many committees of these organizations. She is the author of numerous professional articles and research papers.

Pincus received her bachelor’s degree, Master of Business Administration and doctorate from the University of Maryland.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (http://www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with approximately 330,000 members, including CPAs in business and industry, public practice, government, and education. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies; federal, state and local governments; and nonprofit organizations. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.