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Click here to view our chapter’s past presidents. In August of 1932, the Houston Chapter was among the early entrants to be chartered as a chapter of the National Association of Cost Accountants (NACA). The first President of our chapter, J.W. Emison, was selected from the all-male membership and served in that capacity from 1932 - 1934. The name of the organization was later changed from the National Association of Cost Accountants (NACA) to the National Association of Accountants (NAA). Frank B. Kemp served as the Houston Chapter President from 1941 - 1942, and an award was established in his memory to honor the fine contribution he made to our chapter. The first recipient of this annual award was chapter member Iris F. Harmon, the initial female member of our chapter. Fifty years after the NACA was formed in Houston , Iris F. Harmon became the first female president of the Houston Chapter of NAA and served 1972 - 1973. From 1968 - 1969, Lester Brewer served as the President of the Houston Chapter. Les served as National Vice-President from 1977 - 1978 and later became Chairman of the Operations Committee, which hosted the very successful 1983 Annual NAA Convention in Houston , Texas . The Lone Star Chapter (after swelling to a membership of 1000 members) split in 1981-1982 forming the Houston Lone Star Chapter and the Houston Bluebonnet Chapter. A healthy rivalry formed between the two chapters and as a result, the Bayou Bell competition was formed. The Bayou Bell was only won once by the Bluebonnet Chapter before the chapters were merged. The first presidents of these chapters were William Kuchar, Houston Bluebonnet Chapter and L. Raymond Metcalf, Houston Lone Star Chapter. President Kuchar established the Claude J. Adkins Award to honor Mr. Adkin's presidential role in leading the Houston chapter to its first national banner, sixth place in the Stevenson Division, during the 1973 - 1974 chapter year. In 1981, President Metcalf, in recognition of her outstanding pioneer spirit and her forty years of service to our chapter, established the Iris F. Harmon Award to recognize the outstanding female member of the Houston Lone Star Chapter of the National Association of Accountants. During the 1987 - 1988 chapter year, the Frank B. Kemp award was combined with the Iris Freudenberger Harmon Award to be presented annually to the outstanding male or female Houston Lone Star Chapter member of the NAA. During the 1989 - 1990 chapter year, due to a downturn in the Houston economy and loss of membership from both chapters, chapter leaders decided to merge and form the Houston Chapter, number 043, with Charles Sheppard serving as the first president. At that time, the Iris F. Harmon and Claude J. Adkins Award were continued, but the purpose for the Bayou Bell Competition no longer existed and the bell was retired. In early 1991, all Certified Management Accountants (CMAs) merged with the National Association of Accountants. Then at the annual national conference in June of that year, NAA officially changed its name to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). During the same year, Chapter President Chris Janda accepted the nineteenth place banner in the Stevenson category, which was presented at the annual conference in Chicago , Illinois . This was the second banner ever to be earned by the Houston Chapter of IMA. By serving for two consecutive terms, Chris also gained the distinction of being the final President for the Houston Chapter of NAA (1990-1991) and the first President for the Houston Chapter of IMA (1991-1992). In 1992, our chapter celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with a visit from the National President, Robert Liptak. We had nearly 650 regular members and nearly two hundred Emeritus Associates and Student members. Our business members, as well as five Student Chapters, chartered at Lamar University , North Harris College , The University of Houston-Downtown, The University of Houston-Clear Lake, and St. Thomas University share our strength in the community. During 1992-1993, our chapter established the Past Presidents Council, which lists as active participants: Les Brown, Ben Speckles, and L. Raymond Metcalf. Past National Vice Presidents and Past Texas Council Presidents; Kathy Hager-National Vice President for Area J; Patrick Karr-Texas Council President; Jerri Neal, Treasurer of Texas Council; Charles Sheppard-National Director; Claude Adkins and Chris Janda-former banner winners and many more distinguished past presidents. The 1993-1994 chapter year continued the momentum of growth. President Jeanne Clark created the Gail Fay Bienvenu Award. This award recognizes annually a student or active member who is outstanding in their contribution to the development and activities of the chapter. Under the leadership of Past President Charles Sheppard, a scholarship program has been created to support the students that are actively involved in our chapter. 1993-1994 also marks the year the Texas Bay Chapter merged with the Houston Chapter. The 1995-1996 Chapter year, led by President Steve Willis, was exciting and challenging for our membership. We continued to have a presence on several local universities and were honored to have the University of Clear Lake selected to receive an Award of Excellence banner from National. During 1996-1997, under the presidency of Alan Greiger, the Houston Chapter tripled the amount of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits offered to its members. Each member was able to earn up to 60 CPE credits by attending the technical meetings as well as the FMN Video Sessions (originally called the "Super Saturday CE Sessions"). For the second consecutive year, the University of Houston-Clear Lake student chapter was awarded the Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year. Under the direction of Eric Ottman, the Chapter implemented a new scholarship program in 1998 -1999. In order to recognize our Houston corporate sponsors for their outstanding contributions, the Houston Chapter donates a $500 scholarship to a student member each year. During 1999-2000, Danya McIntyre Bogart implemented a breakfast meeting program to provide additional low cost CPE for our members. Danya also created the Past President's Award to recognize continued outstanding contributions by a Houston Chapter past president. The Houston Chapter won its third banner during the 2000-2001 chapter year. Under the direction of Melanie Michalovich, President, the chapter finished 15th out of 124 chapters in the Stevenson Division. The banner was presented at the annual conference in New Orleans . In 2001-2002 Melanie Michalovich, Houston Chapter President, accepted a national banner at the annual conference in San Diego for 11th place in the Stevenson Division. This is the first time Houston has won back-to-back banners. The chapter also implemented a successful low-cost luncheon technical program. Various companies throughout the Houston metropolitan area host the sessions. During the 2002-2003 year, the Houston Chapter held its first CMA review classes for Part 1 and Part 2 CFM. Helping our members become certified will be a continued focus in years to come. Accounting Principals donated a set of Rigos CMA/CFM review materials to the Chapter as a tool for the classes. Under the direction of President Lynette Pebernat, the Chapter also continued the successful luncheon programs. Accountants felt the impact of sweeping regulatory changes during 2003-2004 that affected their profession. To keep our members informed of these changes, our Chapter's technical programs targeted different aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. Copies of the presentations began to be posted on our website. This was another way that our Chapter could be of service to its members. Lynette Pebernat continued her presidency during the 2003-2004 year. Two scholarships of $750 each were awarded to student members at the University of Houston - Clear Lake . In 2004-05, Charles Sheppard graciously agreed again to serve as the Houston Chapter President. Under his leadership and guidance, the Houston Chapter was recognized for their achievements by being presented with the 19 th place banner in the Stevenson Division. Charles Dunlap brought fresh ideas and inspiration to the chapter during his term as president in 2005-2006. This was a year of changes and challenges, but the chapter continued to build on the foundations set in the past several years and new growth and vitality are reflected in the chapter. We are poised for the future. Louise Crider, a past chapter president from Pennsylvania and past Texas Council President, led our chapter in 2006-2007 to a 17th place banner in the Stevenson Division. The Houston Chapter won a gold award from national for the best 2007-08 roster prepared by Louise Crider. The Houston Chapter won third place in the ICMA competition for parts passed and percentage increase in certified members thanks primarily to the CMA review course taught at Shell Oil Company by Karen Russom. |