A rare induction to fame

By Anna Maria Greene

He shares company with the best.

Photography: Nadia Molinari

Ross Skinner has good reason to be proud these days. At Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University hangs his photo, among a select few accountants. So? you say. Well, Fisher College is the home of the prestigious body that recognizes outstanding contribution to the profession: the Accounting Hall of Fame. Induction is an honour only two other Canadian accountants have received in the half century of its existence. (Howard Ross was selected in 1977, and Robert Mautz in 1978.)

Now, Saskatoon-born Ross Skinner, whose peers see him as a pioneer for his rigorous approach to accounting principles, shares company with the cream of the crop.

"Ross Skinner's impact on Canadian accounting standards has been significant," says Dan Jensen, the hall's chair. "Apart from his work on committees of professional bodies and institutes, he's written several influential books recognized in Canada and the US." His first, Analytical Auditing, coauthored with R.J. Anderson, was translated into four languages.

Skinner, 76, is an honourary Doctor of Laws from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. The FCA's most well-known work, Accounting Principles: A Canadian Viewpoint (1972), revised in June, is highly regarded in the accounting world. Bob Rutherford, VP of Standards at the CICA and a member of the hall's board of nominees, presented the award to Skinner in August at the American Accounting Association's annual meeting in Phil- adelphia. "It was a huge honour to present this to someone who has done so much for accounting theory and practice."

Despite his success, Skinner is humble. "It's very gratifying - in the good sense - to be named to the Hall of Fame," he says, "and, even more so, to be among such an impressive lot." In its entire history, only 65 others have been voted in by the board of nominees, which comprises some of the accounting profession's most distinguished members.

Skinner's 31-year Clarkson Gordon career began in 1945. A partner by 1954, he became national accounting standards director in 1962. Over the decades, he has chaired many committees, including CICA's accounting and auditing research committee, and the auditor general's independent committee on government accounting and auditing. He was also director at U of T's Centre for Accounting Studies.

In 1983, Skinner retired. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Helen. Looking back, he expresses satisfaction at having fulfilled his career goals. "They say that it's better to be lucky than smart," he says modestly. "I've been very lucky." Better still to be both.