Dr. Larzette G. Hale, CPA licensed in 1951 in the State of Georgia. She is also the first black female Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States to also hold a Ph.D. in accounting which she earned in 1955 She established her own CPA office in Atlanta that same year.
Dr. Hale worked as a CPA, a college professor, and a researcher for over 43 years. She was professor emeritus of accounting at Utah State University, where she led its school of accounting for more than 13 years.
She was also elected president of the American Woman's Society of Certified Public Accountants and became the first black appointed to the Utah Board of Regents of Higher Education.

Elmer J. Whiting, Jr., CPA licensed in 1950 in Ohio was the first African American Certified Public Accountant in Ohio and one of the first African American Attorney-CPAs in the country. In 1971, he became the first black partner of a Big 8 accounting firm at Ernst & Young. When he died, a fellow CPA eulogized him for opening “doors we did not know were closed” and for removing obstacles “we did not know where there.”

G. Steven Marchman III was licensed in the state of Illinois in 1944. Marchman had a firm and was involved with other African American CPAs. He was well known for keeping the list of all black CPAs in the country.

Nathan Garrett, licensed in 1961, is one of the first Black CPAs in North Carolina. In 1962, he opened his own practice in North Carolina and was the first African American to do so. After many years and a lot of hard work, the firm became the largest and oldest minority-owned firm in North Carolina.

Theodora Rutherford was the first known African American student at Columbia Business School. After a rule change allowed her to become a qualified Certified Public Accountant in 1959, she went on to become the first black CPA in West Virginia.

Dr. Milton Wilson, CPA was Texas’ first African-American CPA. Licensed in 1952, he was among the nation’s first 100 African-American CPAs and was one of the first seven African-Americans to earn a doctoral degree in accounting. Dr. Wilson, as dean, led Texas Southern University’s (TSU) School of Business in 1967 to become the first historically black college or university to earn accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In 1970, Wilson became dean of Howard University’s School of Business, which, in 1980, he also led to AACSB accreditation. He was the only dean to accomplish this at two African-American colleges.

Born and raised in St. James Parrish, Louisiana, Melvin Bergeron began his advanced education with the completion of a BS in Business Administration from Xavier University in 1949. It was while at Xavier that Melvin pledged the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Melvin later graduated from Louisiana State University with a Masters in Business Administration-Accounting in 1954.and entered Loyola University School of Law. He later received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Thurgood Marshall school of law at Texas Southern University in 1961. He was admitted into the Texas Bar also in 1961.

Mary T. Washington CPA licensed in 1943 was the first African American woman to be a CPA in the United States.

William Louis Campfield (1912–1993), in 1951 became the first Black CPA Ph.D. He was also the first Black CPA in North Carolina and the first Black person inducted into the Beta Alpha Psi organization. His parents, graduates of the Tuskegee Institute and students of Booker T. Washington, were teachers, according to research by Dereck Barr-Pulliam, CPA, Ph.D., assistant professor of accountancy at the University of Louisville. Campfield and his eight siblings attended a school on the Institute’s campus and then he was sent to live with relatives in Pittsburgh so he could attend a college preparatory high school. He enrolled in New York University, supporting himself by working at a bowling alley, then returned to teach at Tuskegee in 1933.

Clarence R. Newby, CPA, was born in Abbeville, Alabama, on January 28, 1926. He studied at Tuskegee Institute, University of California - Berkley, and Harms Business College before earning his Bachelor of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1949.

Lester H. McKeever, Jr.,  was born June 15, 1934, in Chicago. He attended Douglas elementary and Wendell Philips High School. He then graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign and went on to study law at the Illinois Institute of Technology - Chicago Kent College of Law.  and earned his CPA in 1960. After graduating from law school, he started his career at Washington & Pittman, working for Mary T. Washington, the first female African-American CPA. He became a partner in the firm renamed Washington, Pittman & McKeever, and eventually became managing partner in 1976.

When did you know you wanted to become an accountant?

I was recruited for a position at a CPA firm in 1995 while I was still an accounting student; it was something I actually liked, so I kept accounting as a career going forward.

Richard H. Austin, CPA licensed in 1941 was the first African American CPA in Michigan. He was a senior partner in the firm of Austin, Washington & Davenport which was later sold to George G. Johnson when Austin became Michigan Secretary of State in 1970. The firm then became known as George Johnson & Company and now operates as GJC CPAs & Advisors. GJC CPAs & Advisors is the first and oldest African American owned CPA firm in the State of Michigan

When did you know you wanted to become an accountant?

I was introduced to accounting my senior year in high school and I decided to become an accountant my first year of college. They asked me to declare a major and as I looked down the list (in alphabetical order) accountant was at the top so I chose it.

The National Society of Black Certified Public Accountants, Inc. (NSBCPA) recently announced today the selection of Darryl R. Matthews, Sr. as its President & CEO. NSBCPA is currently the only organization completely focused on increasing the number of Black CPAs by providing CPA Exam candidates with the resources and coaching to pass the exam, ensuring they become CPAs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Charles A. Beckett, CPA licensed in 1941 was one of the first African American certified public accountants in Illinois. He was also a community activist who helped found Paul G. Stewart Housing Development; which was named after his friend Paul G. Stewart, CPA.

When did you know you wanted to become an accountant?

I never wanted to become an accountant. In a sense, the profession chose me. I started out as a general business major, but I didn't feel adequately challenged by the educational curriculum. The demand for more out of my education led me to inquire about the most challenging major in the university's business program; and, voila, an accountant was born!

Theodore A. Jones was the 9th Black CPA licensed in 1940 and hailed from the State of Illinois by way of Colorado. He attended the University of Illinois, where he studied accounting and economics. His professors ignored him; therefore, he pretended to be asleep one day, and the professor called on him. Theodore answered the question correctly and, from that day forward, was recognized by his professors. Though people stated he could not succeed because of his color, he proved them wrong and noted as a man ahead of his time.

When did you know you wanted to become an accountant?

I was aware of accounting during my high school days when my little sister took an accounting class but that was the extent of my understanding. I would not see accounting again until my sophomore year at Rice when I had to take an accounting class as part of my business minor (and even then I chalked it up as a necessary evil in the pursuit of my education. It was hard and I think I passed with a B-).