May 2002

NYSSCPA Inducts Past Society President into Hall of Fame

Founding Member of GASB to Enter Hall, Too

The New York State Society of CPAs selected the first living member to be inducted into the Society’s Hall of Fame, which recognizes CPAs for their exceptional contributions to the profession and the community at large.

Members of the Society’s Awards Committee voted to induct Stuart Kessler, a founding partner of Goldstein, Golub, Kessler LLP in New York City, out of a field of 10 nominees. The committee also selected Philip L. Defliese Sr., a former partner with Coopers & Lybrand, now PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and a Society member for 60 years before he died in 1997.

P. Gerard Sokolski, chairman of the Awards Committee, said there were some good nominees this year, but “These two just shone in so many areas.”

The Society leadership established the Hall of Fame in 2000, when a special Selection Committee posthumously inducted five members for their demonstrated leadership, impact and distinguished service in and out of the profession. The Society late last year dissolved the Selection Committee and transferred its responsibilities to a revamped Awards Committee. Society members recognized Kessler and Defliese—who comprise the second wave of Hall of Fame inductees—at the NYSSCPA’s Annual Election Meeting and Dinner on May 9 in New York City.

Kessler said he felt a number of emotions when he heard that the committee had selected him for the honor.

“There were so many deserving people other than me that I was surprised when I found out,” Kessler said. “My second reaction was ‘this is fantastic’ and I was glad to be alive for this,” as opposed to the others who had been awarded posthumously, he said.
Kessler said he would use a short acceptance speech to acknowledge Gerald Golub and Stanley Goldstein for their encouragement over the years, and to draw attention to the Society’s history and tradition of integrity.

Bio-Luminescence: The Curricula Vitae of Hall of Famers

Nominations for Defliese and Kessler provided convincing evidence of their fulfillment of the criteria for induction to the Hall of Fame, Sokolski said, with long records of service to the profession and the community at large.

Defliese was certified as a CPA in 1947 and joined the NYSSCPA that same year. He worked for Coopers & Lybrand for more than 30 years. He became a partner in 1956 and served as national director of Accounting, Auditing and SEC Services and later as managing partner and chairman of the firm’s Executive Committee. He enjoyed a reputation for integrity, introducing rigorous rules in accounting and auditing practice.

Defliese served as chairman of the Accounting Principles Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants—predecessor of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)—where he wrote 26 often-controversial opinions, and later served as a member of the FASB Advisory Council. He also was a founding member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Defliese joined the faculty of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, where he taught for 11 years and was awarded the status of professor emeritus.

Kessler, a past NYSSCPA president and a past AICPA chair, is a Brooklyn-born-and-bred product of the New York City public school system. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College, an M.B.A. from City College of New York, a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University. He joined the Society in 1957, and has served on NYSSCPA and AICPA committees for more than 40 years.

He was founder and president of the Brooklyn College Accountants Alumni Association, and a founder of a group that honors his mentor, Professor Nathan Schmukler, by awarding accounting scholarships to worthwhile prospective CPAs. He also has received the NYSSCPA Distinguished Service Award, the James P. Kelly Public Service Award and the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division Distinguished Service Award, among others.