NEW YORK – (April 11, 2013) - The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) will present Cynthia Scarinci, CPA of Staten Island; and Robert Kawa, CPA of Syracuse, with its 2013 Dr. Emanuel Saxe Outstanding CPA in Education Award on May 16, 2013 at the Society’s 116th Annual Election Meeting and Dinner at the New York Marriott Marquis at Times Square.
This award highlights outstanding service and professional development in education and is designed to recognize accounting educators for distinguished service and excellence in teaching and for contributing to and promotion of the accounting profession. It is named for Emmanuel Saxe, a well-known New York CPA, who was the dean emeritus and a member of the Baruch College of the City University of New York faculty for 31 years.
Scarinci, an accounting professor at the College of Staten Island-CUNY, joined the NYSSCPA in 1990 and is the former president and vice president of the Staten Island Chapter. She was a trustee and member of the chapter’s Executive Board, and was a member of the chapter’s high school outreach program, One-on-One. She is a current member of the NYSSCPA’s Board of Directors.
Scarinci has coordinated the chapter’s annual accounting education night for college students for more than a decade, and has helped produce the Chapter’s World of Accounting events at the College of Staten Island which provides high school students with information regarding the accounting profession and CPAs .She has also served on the College’s Curriculum and Proficiency Committees and Mentor Program.
“Twenty years ago, if someone had asked me to “fast forward” my life, I would never have envisioned a career change into the world of academia,” she said. “It is so great to now see my students’ reactions when their balance sheets actually balance, or when they are completing their audit assignment and they finally understand how all of the pieces of the accounting puzzle fit together…their Aha! Moment; I just find it very rewarding to see their sense of accomplishment and enjoyment of it.”
Scarinci, who has also written for numerous accounting publications on various topics relating to small business, received her bachelor of business administration in accounting and MBA in finance from Pace University.
Robert Kawa, also a Saxe Award honoree, is the former chairman of the Accounting Department at Le Moyne College in Syracuse where he taught from 1977 – 2007 and again from 2010- 2012. He is also a principal of his own firm. A member of the Society since 1988, Kawa has served in numerous chapter and committee positions, many of them with a focus on education and scholarships.
"My involvement with the Society as a former president of the Syracuse Chapter, former chair of the Financial Accounting Standards, Ethics and Scholarship committees and former member of the Board of Directors make this honor very special to me. The interaction I have had with so many great people involved with the Society over the years heightens the honor even more,” Kawa said.
Kawa balanced the theory and practice of the profession during his entire teaching career by maintaining a full client practice since 1981 while also simultaneously contributing to numerous professional publications including the NYSSCPA’s CPA Journal.
In addition he serves as a member of the New York State Board of Accountancy as a member and chair of the Education Committee and as a member of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s Education Committee as well.
“Years ago, my mentor Frank Fernandez - the chair of the accounting department at Le Moyne who received this award himself - said he actually knew Manny Saxe. … He talked about what a wonderful person and outstanding educator (Saxe) was and how proud he was to receive an award in his name. I always remembered that and, with this in mind, it is very hard to describe just how honored, in turn, I am as well,” said Kawa, who earned his undergraduate degree in accounting from Le Moyne College and an MBA from Syracuse University.
“I really love the accounting profession and the teaching profession,” he said, “and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to have devoted my life to both over my years.”