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Rochester Chapter Inducts Two Members into Hall of Fame, Recognizes Student Scholars

By Bill Dresnack, Rochester Chapter President

Two members of the Rochester Chapter were inducted into the Chapter Hall of Fame at the Oct. 7 Officers Visitation and Clambake. Bob Fox, a partner at Eldredge, Fox & Porretti LLP, and Gerry Sokolski, a retired partner of Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co., LLP, were recognized for their long-term contributions to our chapter, the New York State Society of CPAs and the accounting profession. Each served numerous constituencies through their service in leadership roles in professional organizations.

Though too numerous to provide a comprehensive listing, highlights from Fox’s many service activities include acting as chair of the New York State Board for Public Accountancy, serving as a Board Member of the NYSSCPA and as a member of the Society’s Professional Ethics Committee. He is a past president of the Rochester Chapter, former chair of the Managing Partners and CPE Committees and a member of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. He is a former member, chair, or trustee of the Boards of McQuaid Jesuit High School, the Brockport Foundation, the Lakeside Hospital Foundation and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sokolski’s curriculum vitae also includes extensive service to the profession and the community, including serving as past president of the NYSSCPA, membership on the Society’s Board of Directors and on its Finance Committee and as president of the Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE), the teaching arm of the NYSSCPA. He has testified before the IRS Oversight Subcommittee of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee on tax simplification for individuals and small businesses. Sokolski holds the rank of commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retired, and is a member of the Accounting Advisory Board of St. John Fisher College and a member and past president of the Estate Planning Council of Rochester. He is also on the Council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and serves on the AICPA’s S Corporation Technical Resource Panel.

The criteria for induction into the Chapter Hall of Fame are available on our chapter’s website. We congratulate Bob Fox and Gerry Sokolski, and thank them for all they have given in support of the accounting profession and the Rochester community.

Recognizing the long-term achievements of distinguished members provides an opportunity to reflect on the future of our profession. On the same night that we recognized the accomplishments of Fox and Sokolski, we celebrated the scholarships awarded to two of our area colleges’ outstanding accounting students. Teresa Gaylard of SUNY Brockport and Ellen Bly of SUNY Geneseo were awarded with certificates in recognition of their academic achievements and the award of scholarships to each to continue to pursue studies in accounting. Each has demonstrated the ability, judgment and intellect needed to succeed in the accounting profession. We congratulate them and look forward to their active involvement in the NYSSCPA.