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William Aiken Sr. Hailed for His Many Years of Promoting the Profession as a Great One for All

By:
S.J. Steinhardt
Published Date:
Jul 3, 2024


Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion Award

This award recognizes an NYSSCPA individual member who demonstrates a commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The award celebrates members who work to ensure that the NYSSCPA and the profession are positioned to attract, retain and advance all current and aspiring professionals, and who believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive profession is one that better reflects and is better able to serve a global public of many varying perspectives and cultures. 

William Aiken Sr.’s career would seem remarkable from any perspective. His list of achievements is even more notable, considering the environment in which he grew up and came of age, as both a man and as a professional. In a lifetime of firsts, Aiken has been a barrier breaker and an influential member of the accounting profession. For all of his efforts in making the profession a more inclusive one, Aiken is the 2024 recipient of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion Award.

“Bill has the admirable gift of speaking of what must have been very demoralizing and painful experiences with a smile, with dignity and a positive attitude,” said NYSSCPA Past President Rumbi Bwerinofa-Petrozzello, who nominated him for the award. “As an active member [of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)], Bill traveled across the country starting chapters at universities in the Midwest, the South and beyond. He epitomizes the organization’s motto, ‘Lifting as We Climb,’ and there is many a CPA who can thank Bill Aiken for their journey into the profession.”

Aiken was born and raised in Harlem, his parents having migrated from South Carolina in the 1920s, along with other African Americans seeking better lives than they had in the Jim Crow South. His mother was a presser in the Harlem garment industry; his father’s dream of becoming an electrical engineer was stifled by the racially discriminatory attitudes of the day.

“He went to school to become an electrician,” said Aiken about his father, in an interview with The Baruch College Alumni Magazine in 2015. “During World War II, he wired ships, buildings, etc. But he was denied access to the electricians’ union. He ended up ‘firing’ huge boilers in a laundry.”

Young Aiken chose a different path. Joining the Marine Corps after graduating from Seward Park High School, he served three years, earning the rank of sergeant. After his service, “I wanted to be successful, so I applied to college,” he said, in the alumni magazine interview. At City College’s School of Business and Public Administration (now Baruch College of the City University of New York), he majored in accounting, working full time as a senior account clerk and taking courses part time, sometimes in split shifts—both before and after his day job.

Aiken graduated in 1963, in the same class as Bert N. Mitchell, who would become the NYSSCPA’s first Black president in 1987. It was a time in which a small percentage of CPAs—about 150 out of 100,000—were Black, much lower than in law or medicine. Today, only 2 percent of all U.S. CPAs are Black, according to the AICPA, and Black accountants make up only 1 percent of partners in accounting firms. 

Working full time at the New York State Insurance Department, while studying part time for his Baruch MBA, Aiken sought an auditing position in a Big Eight firm. After mailing his résumé to the firms, he was granted interviews, but was subsequently rejected. It was clear that the interviewers did not expect him to be Black. “I realized that with the name ‘William Aiken’ I could be anyone,” he told the alumni magazine. 

After yet another rejection, he changed his approach. “I let them see me,” he said in the interview. He later explained, “I walked my résumé into the personnel office instead of mailing it, so they could see that I was Black. This way, they knew I was Black before agreeing to interview me.” Aiken was hired as an auditor at Arthur Young (the precursor to today’s Ernst & Young), an opportunity he credits to a progressive managing partner in its New York office. Aiken was the third African American auditor hired by the firm; the first was hired just two years earlier.

In December 1969, nine African American financial leaders met in New York to discuss the unique challenges and limited opportunities they faced in the accounting profession. In that year, there were only 136 African American CPAs out of a total of 100,000 in the United States. This group wanted to establish an organization to address the concerns of Black professionals entering the accounting field and make a commitment to professional and academic excellence. Aiken joined the organization, NABA, soon after its founding, becoming its second president in 1970. He served three additional terms—in 1972, 1983 and 1984. 

Under Aiken’s leadership, NABA grew in status and membership, with dues-paying members increasing fivefold in his first year as president. Today, the organization boasts over 10,000 members and 150 active professional and student chapters.

During that time, Aiken published an influential study, “The Black Experience in Large Public Accounting Firms,” in the August 1972 issue of the Journal of Accountancy. He was also named to the New York State Board for Public Accountancy in 1974—the first African American to serve on the body.

“So much might not have occurred if not for my affiliation with NABA,” he said. “Now, African Americans are in virtually every office of the Big Four accounting firms.” 

Aiken left Arthur Young in 1972 to co-found the African American public accountancy firm Aiken, Wilson & Brown, later Aiken & Wilson. He then became the assistant deputy commissioner for budget control at the New York City Human Resources Administration during the Ed Koch administration. Aiken then moved in 1980 to Peat Marwick, now KPMG, as an audit partner. After leaving KPMG in 1988, he served as the first Black CFO of both the Long Island Railroad and the Jewish Child Care Association of New York. Aiken also served as the Union Theological Seminary’s interim CFO and has been an American Arbitration Association commercial arbitrator since 1985.

Aiken joined the NYSSCPA in 1981 and served on its Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008, and again from 2012 to 2014. He served as president of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter in 2001–2002. He also served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) program at Baruch in 2002–2003. Over the years, he has served as a member of the Finance, Awards, Audit, Industry Oversight, Not-for-Profit Organizations, Chief Financial Officers and Cooperation with Government Officials committees. 

Aiken is also a working actor, author and poet. His favorite acting role was John Prentice Sr. in a video recreation of a scene from the iconic film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? for the Columbia University School of the Arts. His collection of poetry, Compelling Joy: A Poetic Journey Through Life, was published in 2001.

“Always someone intent to build communities where all of our members find a home, Bill was known for—along with fellow CPAs, including Peter Frank—Poetry and Pizza nights, where our members could come together to connect and have a good time,” said Bwerinofa-Petrozzello. “Bill continues to be a champion for the profession and an advocate by spreading the word, exposing as many people as possible to the profession, and by truly showing that this is a great profession for all.”

ssteinhardt@nysscpa.org