The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants presents the Elijah Watt Sells Award to the three CPA candidates who attain the highest combined grades when taking all four sections of the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination at one administration. The candidate with the highest grade receives a Gold Award, and the candidates scoring the second and third highest grades receive Silver and Bronze Awards, respectively.

The Examination is administered each May and November in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Over 120,000 candidates take the Examination each year.

The Award was created in 1923 to honor Elijah Watts Sells, a founding partner of Haskins & Sells, which was a predecessor to the international firm Deloitte & Touche. In 1896, Mr. Sells became one of the first Certified Public Accountants under the provisions of a New York State law enacted that year and later qualified as a CPA in eight other states. He was active in the creation of the AICPA and served at different times as an officer and member of its governing council. Mr. Sells, who was deeply interested in advancing professional education, participated in founding the school of Commerce, Accounts and Finance of New York University.

The first Award was presented in 1923; only one award was given. Beginning with the November 1935 Examination, gold and silver medals were awarded to the two highest scorers on each Examination, and, starting with the May 1978 Examination, a bronze medal was awarded to the candidate achieving the third highest score on each Examination. Records of the winners of the Examinations for 1923, 1927, and 1929 through 1932 are missing from the AICPA's archives.

Winners of the AICPA Elijah Watt Sells Award are honored by their State Society or State Board of Accountancy and receive plaques containing their medals.

Award Winners

MAY 2001

Gold: Jennifer Popp (MO)
Silver: Amanda M. Johnson (IA)
Stephen Paul Weiland (IL)
Bronze: Sudipta Roy (TX)

NOVEMBER 2000

Gold: Werner Ellmauer (WA)
Silver: Andreas Poelzelbauer (IL)
Bronze: Erich Ploechl (IL)

MAY 2000

Gold: Paul C. Walker (MI)
Silver: Carolyn Ann Bryant (CA)
Bronze: Kurt Eugene Blumberg (MN)

NOVEMBER 1999

Gold: Elizabeth Kinney (NY)
Silver: Adrian Grant Simmons (MD)
Bronze: Hans Peter Bork (DE)

MAY 1999

Gold: Heather L. Hollingsworth (IN)
Silver: Peter A. Prescott (TX)
Bronze: Hyun Kyung Kim (DE)

Gold: Cynthia F. Veinot (CT)
Silver: Charles A.P.N. Carlsaw (NV)
Bronze: Christopher Stauffer (KS)

Gold: Christine Lynn Howard (TX)
Silver: Arwin George Zeissler (MI)
Bronze: Alan Kuska (IL)

Gold: Mindy Tyson (FL)
Silver: Michael S. Brown (MI)
Bronze: Daniel Hugo (TX)

Gold: Tomasz Bugajski (MA)
Silver: Cynthia Beier Greeson (IN)
Bronze: Clark B. Maxwell (CO)

Gold: Stephanie Horner Seiberg (MD)
Silver: Daniel C. Campion (MN)
Bronze: Cathy Marie Roper (KS)

Gold: Paul K. Ito (HI)
Silver: Jonathan R. Monson (NH)
Bronze: Warren M. Schultz, Jr. (CT)

Gold: Dan W. Wisniewski (MI)
Silver: Virginia Leigh Harris (KY)
Bronze: Paul J. Costa (CT)

Gold: Chung Chun Lok (CA)
Silver: Alok Kumar Jain (GA)
Bronze: David Shane Peck (TX)

Gold: Vitaly Sorkin (RI)
Silver: Jeffrey J. Johnson (IL)
Bronze: Jennifer L. Goebel (KY)

Gold: Leanne M. Sardiga (IL)
Silver: David Spivak (MN)
Bronze: R. Todd White (IA)

Gold: Susan Diane Steiner (FL)
Silver: Michelle Engle (IL)
Bronze: Juzer Abdeali Haji (CO)

Gold: Kenneth Gerard Grapperhaus (IL)
Silver: Greg Weigang Ye (MO)
Bronze: Steven J. Monahan (IA)

Gold: Laurie Stoll (OH)
Silver: Kristine Walsh Huber (WI)
Eija A. Roulson (MI)
Bronze: Nina M. Dowd (CO)

Gold: Mary Emmerling (MD)
Silver: Eric Theodore Langmack (IA)
Bronze: Raymond P. Tierney (IL)

Gold: Chad Michael Koehler (WI)
Silver: Mary Joan Selberg (WI)
Bronze: David F. Crofoot (FL)
Robert C. Tesch, Jr. (NM)

Gold: Allen Lueth (MN)
Silver: David Edward Miller (NY)
Bronze: Ching Yi Li (IL)

Gold: Paul W. Decker (OH)
Silver: Maurie Fox-Warren (MA)
Bronze: Lauran G. Jack (DC)

Gold: Kevin Charles Banwart (IA)
Silver: Margo J. Deyo (IL)
Kelly Kristine Higgs (AZ)
Bronze: Jeffrey Kersten (ND)

Gold: Donald S. Blair (MD)
Silver: Nicholas Richard Scarles (CO)
Bronze: Lewis S. Klessel (NJ)

Gold: Darlene D. Smolik (TN)
Silver: Thomas D. Head (IA)
Bronze: Rebecca Marie Brauer (OR)

Gold: David Lester Olmsted (MA)
Christopher A. Middleton (CA)
Silver: Lisa Gonzalez (FL)
Bronze: Donald Lee Munchrath (IA)
Bryan A. Zink (FL)

Gold: Eung-Rae Cho (CA)
Silver: Gregory A. Wiese (IA)
Bronze: Katherine Y.C. Man (IL)

Gold: Susan Francis (MT)
Silver: William Paul Cariato (IL)
Bronze: Dennis Delony (CA)
Sheldon King (NY)

Gold: Lucy Lyle Neal (VA)
Silver: Richard H. Lee (IL)
Bronze: Lenny J. Ajzenman (NY)

Gold: Alexandra Bolton (FL)
Silver: Marie Ellen Emmendorfer (MI)
Bronze: Martha A. Keck (MI)

Gold: Stephen Tilley (LA)
Silver: Chlen Chun Ng (WA)
Joseph Patrick Nolan (IL)
Joel Rubin (CA)
Bronze: Tony Dean Bartel (KS)

Gold : Min-ying C. Tseng (CA)
Silver: Troy R. Martin III (CO)
Bronze: Joyce Ann Kastler (TX)

Gold : Marc Stuart Brenner (IL)
Silver: Arthur D. Gunther (IL)
Bronze: Russell D. Wass (MA)

Gold: Riva Dale Mirvis (NY)
Silver: Barbara R. Stewart (MD)
Bronze: Mary Beth Heskin (CO)

Gold: John A. Fuerst (WA)
Silver: Todd J. Sladky (MN)
Bronze: Virginia K. Metzger (IN)

Gold: George R. Kampersehroer (WI)
Silver: Jeffrey H. Kinrich (NY)
Bronze: Judith Ann Barnett (OK)

Gold: John T. Johnston III (TN)
Silver: Elaine M. Kuhn (IL)
Bronze: Douglas E. Reynolds (IL)

Gold: John C. Persons II (OK)
Silver: Joy Dianne Catalano (CA)
Bronze: Mary Ann Emery (MN)

Gold: Michael A. Wildish (VA)
Silver: Susan B. Mills (NC)
Bronze: Walter L. Gess (HI)

Gold: Candy Brower (MA)
Silver: Donald W. Blair (NJ)
Bronze: Mary Jane Robertson (GA)

Gold: Leo W. Kesting (CA)
Silver: Shirley Darlene Harris (FL)
Bronze: Jayne C. Thompson (MI)

Gold: Julie Gannon (MI)
Silver: Nancy Lynn Voien (CA)
Bronze: James Scott Redpath (MN)

Gold: Sally L. Hoffman (NY)
Silver : Rose Marie Russo Wells (Hawaii )
Bronze: Scot L. Kline (OH)

Gold: Donna F. Anderson (SC)
Silver: Harold N. Walker (NC)
Bronze: Michael E. Whittle (WI)

Gold : Rodolfo E. Pita (FL)
Silver: William Griffin Garner (NC)
Bronze: Peter J. Cyffka (CA)

Gold: Stephen P. Chang (NY)
Rebecca L. Wolf (WI)
Silver : Margaret Appolony (MD)
Bronze : Franklin H. Butterfield (FL)
Mohamed S. Heakal (MN)

Gold: Frederick A. Bernardi (IL)
Roger Guerin (ME)
Virginia Nadine Leek (CA)
Silver: Susan G. Johnson (MA)
Pamela J. Miller (CA)
Bronze: Jay W. Heck (IN)

Gold: Joseph P. Murrin (MD)
Bruce M. Pollock (France)
Silver: Michael N. Lindh (IL)

Gold: Stuart Berkson (IL)
Silver: Eugene Ballard (FL)
Marcel Bellen (NY)

Gold : Kevin D. Anderson (WI)
Silver : Donald L. Miner (IL)

Gold : Larry Duane Zurcher (IN)
Silver: Patrick Joseph Smith (FL)

Gold: Steven F. Weynand (IL)
Silver: John Edmund Allerson (MN)
Sean Daly (CO)

Gold: Theodore E. Day (OK)
Silver : Kenneth C. Eich (VA)

Gold: Mark A. Hellerstein (CO)
Silver: Albert R. Zimmerli (WI)

Gold: Michael Craig McLaughlin (CA)
Charles H. Meyer (MN)
Silver: Robert Gerald Eiler (OH)

Gold: James Warren Schenold (IL)
Silver: Kenneth E. Anderson, Jr. (WI)

Gold: Roger Kenneth Angel (IL)
Silver: Robert D. Harris (IL)
John E. Sage (OR)

Gold: James Randall Zilka (IL)
Silver: Beryl David Simonson (PA)

Gold: Irene Bonita Silverman (IL)
Silver: Philip David Ameen (NC)

Gold: Olaf Virro (IL)
Silver: John Spencer Karls (NY)

Gold: George Matters (TX)
Silver: Jerry Messner (CA)

Gold: Malcolm Harold Neuwahl (FL)
Silver: Richard C. Adkerson (MS)

Gold: John Walter White (VA)
Silver: Lloyd W. Born (WA)

Gold: John H. Gilbert (MA)
Silver: Alan Walter Perry (MS)

Gold: Richard William Pitzner (WI)
Silver: Gerald H. Banwart (IA)

Gold: James T. Dildine (PA)
Silver: William H. Barnes (PA)

Gold: Robert O. Kaiser (IL)
Silver : Lee R. Barbakoff (IL)

Gold: Gail Ayn Levin (IL)
Silver: Robert J. Freeman (AL)

Gold: Robert Lincoln Posnak (CA)
Silver: Dell Bryant Stringham, Jr. (CA)

Gold: John Sargent Hayford (IL)
Silver : Ernest Irving Hanson (WI)

Gold: Roger Edward Wesley (IL)
Silver: Mark J. Brookner (TX)

Gold : Robert Emond Wailes, Jr. (AL)
Silver : James Nelson Cook (TX)

Gold: Albert A. Koch (PA)
Silver: Gene A. Gohlke (WI)

Gold: Edwin Stuart Brown (IL)
Silver: Albert J. Cohen (NY)

Gold: John Raymond Jordan, Jr. (TX)
Silver: Irwin Robert Shechtman (IL)

Gold: Robert L. Carleton (CO)
Silver: Leonard Leon Ray (TN)

Gold: Donald E. Stone (WI)
Silver: Robert Clark King (AL)

Gold: Roland Frank Salmonson (IL)
Silver: Leonard E. Grossman (PA)

Gold: William Putnam Hauworth (IL)
Silver: Darlene G. Bohlin (WA)

Gold : Robert Allen Rose (IL)
Silver: Gilbert L. Roteman (PA)

Gold: Robert J. Kennedy (OH)
Silver: Harvey Lawrence Coustan (IL)

Gold: David B. Pearson (OR)
Silver: John William Dwyer (IL)

Gold : Robert J. Lill (IL)
Silver: Roland S. Hill (OH)

Gold: Byrle Marsh Abbin (IL)
Silver: David M. Lang, Jr. (DC)

Gold: Ellen Louise McClarin Melohn (AL)
Silver: Wayne K. Goettsche (TX)

Gold: Lee N. Abrams (IL)
Silver: Louis J. Rauchenberger, Jr. (NY)

Gold: Herbert Ellis Schwartz (CA)
Silver: Richard Elwood (IN)

Gold: Jerry Wilbert Kolb (IL)
Silver: Mark Shoyer Bazrod (DC)

Gold: Walter Irwin Cohn (CA)
Silver: George Clarence Mead (IL)

Gold: Gerald Francis Nilles (IA)
Silver: Mitchell M. Krasnoff (PA)

Gold: Sherwyn L. Ehrlich (IL)
Silver: Barton C. Burns (WA)

Gold: Arnold E. Reingold (IN)
Silver: Richard S. Simons, Jr. (GA)

Gold: Leroy E. Gardner (KY)
Silver: Theodore M. Asner (IL)

Gold: Richard J. Horwich (FL)
Silver: Nolan Charles Allen (KY)

Gold: Leonard E. Morrissey, Jr. (VT)
Silver: Charles Peter Spira (CA)

Gold: Evans Bates (AL)
Silver: Thomas V. Palmisano (OH)

Gold: Irvin Ralph Ecke (CA)
Silver: Paul Pommier (OK)

Gold: Kenneth J. Hanni (UT)
Silver: Richard F. Martin (OH)

Gold: Bruce K. Nichols (IL)
Silver: Clifford Ernest Graese (MN)

Gold : Robert Ray Hudson, Jr. (MD)
Silver: William Paul Rosenthal (IL)

Gold: Charles Glen Steele (CA)
Silver : Howard Lewis Ness (OH)

Gold: Paul Whitefield Gaebelein, Jr. (CA)
Silver : William H. Fletcher (MA)
Harvey Victor Metz (OH)

Gold: George Maxwell McCollister (CA)
Silver: William Toumey Diss, Jr. (CO)

Gold : John Richard Herzfeld (OK)
Silver: David Franklin Wentworth (IA)

Gold: Robert Junius Smith (IL)
Silver: Homer Augustus Black (GA)

Gold: Samuel Rees III (MO)
Silver: Irl Roosevelt Robinson (CA)

Gold: Carl J. Bohne, Jr. (TX)
Silver: Ivan O. Bull (IA)

Gold: Clayton L. Bullock (FL)
Silver: Donald C. Brabston (AL)

Gold: Ralph Edwin Lee, Jr. (IL)
Silver: Francis E. Kummeth (IL)

Gold: Louis G. May (NE)
Silver: William Knowlton Traynor (IL)

Gold: Roy G. Mosher (KY)
Silver: Robert Glen Wright (MO)

Gold: Forest W. Brown (VA)
Silver: Eugene H. Stossel (DC)

Gold: Herbert E. Miller (IA)
Silver: Peter Hochschild (MO)

Gold: Norman G. Currin (MI)
Silver: Francis John Weitekamp (IL)

Gold: William Harmon Simmons (TX)
Silver: Thomas Bernard Donahue (MO)

Gold: John N. Newland (MT)
Silver: Robert Gray Murdoch (DC)

Gold: Thaddeus H. Poeller (IL)
Silver : Leo Vern Tinkham (IL)

Gold: Stanley W. Smith (TX)
Silver: Joseph E. Rawlinson (MT)

Gold: Marvin Leon Stone (CO)
Silver: Charles H. Lundquist (OR)
Lawrence N. Jolma (OR)

Gold: John W. Shoemaker (IL)
Silver: Walden C. Cummins, Jr. (IL)

Gold: Anthony A. Belser, Jr. (MO)
Silver: Robert M. Trueblood (IL)

Gold: Charles DeMotte McDaniel (IN)
Silver: Adolph G. Schlosstein, Jr. (TX)
Ralph Elm Walline (IL)

Gold: Paul Thomas Kessler (IL)
Silver: John Thiery Luecker (IL)

Gold: Rae D. Anderson (MA)
Silver: Phillip G. Johnson (NE)

Gold: Russell William Laxson (IL)
Silver: Charles J. Anthony (TX)

Gold: Ralph Edwin Petering (IL)
Silver: William Douglas Sprague (TX)

Gold: John Wesley Huss (IL)
Silver: Hugh Lochridge Macauley (TX)

Gold: Donald T. Nelson (OR)
Silver: Robert W. Cherry (MA)

Gold: Max A. Saunders (OR)
Silver: Albert J. Henke (OR)

Gold: Thomas P. Morgan (CA)
Silver: Philip Field (CA)

Gold: Oscar L. Haynes (IN)
Silver: Wllliam J. Wiley (ME)

Gold: George R. Lautenbach (TX)
Silver: John C. Essene (CA)

Theodore G. Anderson (CA)

Max Neumaier (LA)

Dick D. Quin (MS)

Frank Ahlforth (IL)

Mary E. Wilcox (MA)

Louis Toth (NY)

Louis D. Blum (NY)

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