Barry Melancon, President & CEO of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, announced this week that he will retire from his leadership positions at the organizations at the end of the year. Appointed in 1995, Melancon will have served as CEO of AICPA & CIMA for 30 years, the longest serving CEO in the organization’s history.
Lee White, CEO of IFAC, said: "I’ve been fortunate in my career to have had a strong professional collaboration with Barry, and I have always been grateful to receive his counsel and partnership. On behalf of the profession, we thank him for his many contributions and wish him well in his upcoming retirement from AICPA & CIMA, and look forward to working with him as he continues to advocate for the profession."
Over the course of his career, Melancon has been a major supporter of connecting the accounting profession globally through IFAC, and also orchestrated the establishment of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants in 2017, a joint venture between the AICPA and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). An advocate for embracing digital and sustainability transformations, he has also been a longstanding proponent of integrated reporting. He served as chair of the board of the International Integrated Reporting Council and led its subsequent path into the IFRS Foundation and formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board. Under Melancon's leadership, IFAC and the AICPA collaborated on numerous projects including the annual State of Play, a benchmarking study that captures and analyzes the extent to which companies are reporting and obtaining assurance over their sustainability disclosures.
About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.