Each year, The Georgia Society of CPAs bestows three prestigious awards to members who have distinguished themselves in various ways.

The Outstanding Member in Industry Award recognizes a member in industry who has made significant professional and civic contributions, reflecting the values and ideals to which CPAs in this practice area should aspire.

Robert F. Dow, CPA, J.D. was the 2016 Outstanding Member in Industry recipient. A partner in the Corporate and Securities Practice at Arnall, Golden, Gregory Attorneys at Law, Bob focuses on securities and transactional matters, as well as governance and SEC compliance issues. In addition to all of his volunteer hours, Bob also serves as the pro bono chair for his firm and is active with the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless and the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Domestic Violence Victim Assistance Program.

The Public Service Award recognizes a member who has distinguished himself or herself in public service activities at the local, state, regional, or national level. A broad range of public service activities will be considered in selecting the recipient of this award. Nominees may be active participants in such organizations as the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs. More often, however, the nominees have been leaders in less traditional areas, such as health care and disabilities, urban development initiatives and housing, education, youth programs, and cultural activities. Professional services related to accounting organizations are not considered in determining the award winner.

This year’s Public Service Award went to Randy Gold, President of Atlanta firm AGH. After their daughter was born with a rare and serious genetic disease, Randy and his wife Caroline founded JScreen, a national program that has made genetic testing inexpensive and easy to obtain. Upon receiving GSCPA’s Public Service Award, Randy reflected, “Caroline and I are lucky enough to have been recognized for our efforts across the country. But being honored by The Georgia Society of CPAs means so much to me because this is my peer group; this is my industry. And for The Georgia Society to want to recognize us for the work that we have done, I can only say thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.”

The highest level award bestowed by GSCPA is the Meritorious Service Award. This honor recognizes outstanding service to the profession, either as an overall body of work, or in the form of a single significant accomplishment that came to fruition during the course of one year.

Royce Duncan was the esteemed recipient of the 2016 Meritorious Service Award. The award was made posthumously after Royce’s untimely death, and was accepted by his wife Nancy and their children at the Spring Council meeting. Said Lowell Mooney, 2015-2016 GSCPA chair, “The highlight of this year’s Spring Council meeting was that we awarded posthumously the Meritorious Service Award to our good friend Royce Duncan. So Nancy and family were here and it was just a touching moment as we remembered him and all of his many contributions — to our world, really.”

The deadline for receipt of nominations for the 2017 GSCPA member awards is January 30, 2017. For more information on nominating a member for any of GSCPA’s awards, click here.