Albrecht Honored with Lifetime Service Award

PROVO, Utah – Aug 12, 2015 – Brigham Young University School of Accountancy professor W. Steve Albrecht was honored Wednesday with the American Accounting Association Lifetime Service Award for his more than 40 years’ worth of contributions to the accounting profession.

The Lifetime Service Award recognizes contributions to accounting education over a sustained period of time to professional accounting organizations and to education efforts of public accounting firms, corporations and nonprofit organizations.

“I'm humbled by the honor,” says Albrecht, who received the award at the AAA’s annual meeting in Chicago. “Serving in various capacities throughout my career has been extremely rewarding and has brought many opportunities to me and my family. There has never been a day I didn't get up early and look forward to going to work.”

Albrecht has received numerous awards since he began teaching at the Marriott School in 1977. While serving as associate dean of the Marriott School from 1998 to 2008, he received BYU’s highest faculty honor, the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, for superior scholarship and teaching. Outside of the many accolades garnered in academia, Albrecht has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential accounting professionals in the United States by Accounting Today magazine on five separate occasions, and as one of the top 50 corporate directors in the country by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Albrecht’s extensive experience in fraud detection and prevention has also earned him the Cressey Award from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the highest award given for a lifetime of achievement in fraud detection and deterrence.

In addition to previously serving as associate dean, Albrecht has also served as the director of the School of Accountancy and as president of both the American Accounting Association and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

“I don’t know of anyone in our profession more deserving of this award than Steve,” says Jeff Wilks, director of the School of Accountancy. “His lifetime of research, teaching and service has changed our profession. We are fortunate to have him.”        

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and public management. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.