UAB associate professor emeritus Ollie Powers received the first Alabama Society of CPA’s Lifetime Achievement in Accounting Education Award for his 40-year career as an accounting educator on June 7, 2012. Powers, who spent his teaching career at UAB, was one of the first instructors at the UAB Collat School of Business when it opened in 1971 and became a full-time faculty member in 1976.
Powers has taught thousands of graduates, sometimes two generations within the same family, and is a fixture in many of their lives. Lowell Broom, DBA, former associate dean at the UAB School of Business, spearheaded the creation of the award for the ASCPA.
“We know that a student’s success in an accounting career can often be traced back to a key accounting instructor. Educators like Ollie Powers, who see their students as whole people, contribute to the profession in critical ways. It was very gratifying to recognize him with this award”, said Jeannine Birmingham, CEO of the ASCPA.
Powers, who retired from UAB in December, will return to the classroom this fall to teach Financial Accounting III at the UAB School of Business.