A.Rief Kanan, lecturer and director of the Business Institute at the SUNY New Paltz, is the recipient of the Dr. Emanuel Saxe Outstanding CPA in Education Award.
The award, presented by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), 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.
“I am grateful to the selection committee of the NY State Society of CPAs for continuing to emphasize the importance of the crucial link between the many applications of accounting in practice and the academic perspectives of research and examination,” said Kanan. “I am proud and yet humbled by the importance of the 26 skilled and creative educators who have received this honor over the 30 years of the award’s existence.”
Kanan’s 38-year career includes professional management, leadership, financial management and facilitation experience including ownership, consulting and/or employment at various companies including TV & Appliance Express, Inc., Moore-McCormack Resources, Inc., and Arthur Young & Co. (now Ernst & Young).
In his role as director of the Business Institute at the SUNY New Paltz, Kanan helps connect business leaders with New Paltz faculty and students who might be able to help with various projects including marketing research, strategic planning, and consulting. The Institute also provides opportunities for continuing professional education for CPAs, hosts conferences and seminars, and conducts its own research.
“The satisfaction of working with green and growing businesses, led by passionate, hard working, brilliant entrepreneurs of the Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey is enormous,” said Kanan. “I am very proud that I can often share that experience with my students.”
In addition to his work at the Institute, Kanan is an active executive coach, mainly through Vistage International, a company that offers peer advisory group services to high-level business officers.
“Professor Kanan has been an dedicated instructor and a community leader. We are very proud of his accomplishment,” said Chih-Yang Tsai, interim dean of the School of Business. “This recognition attests to the quality of our faculty and program at SUNY New Paltz.”
Kanan is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Executive Board of the Mid-Hudson Chapter, and Chairman of Cooperation with Education Committee. He is past member of Financial Accounting Standards and Auditing Standards Committees, and host and past Chairman of the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) Board.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Bryant College and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from Syracuse University. Kanan resides in Gardiner, N.Y. with his wife, Nancy.
