Inductees honored at fourth annual Accounting Advisory Council Accounting Hall of Fame

Rider’s Accounting Advisory Council held the fourth Annual Accounting Hall of Fame awards dinner on May 10 at 6 p.m. at Pines Manor in Edison, N.J. At the dinner, the council recognized alumni and faculty from the College of Business Administration who were being inducted into the Hall of Fame, recognizing them for their noteworthy achievements.

Inductees included Marianne Stankiewicz Battista ’56, MA ’70; Thomas Marino ’69, CPA; Jules C. Frankel, CPA, MBA; and Ronald Spair ’77, ’82, CPA.

"I was struck by the impact of the Rider experience on their lives," says Hall of Fame Dinner chair Neil Gerard ’89, CPA, expressed his thoughts about the recipients. "The alumni honorees remarked on the benefits of the personalized instruction and the meaningful relationships they developed with the Rider faculty. In addition to launching their careers as a result of Rider’s accounting program, many have made lifelong friends during their years at the University." 

Marianne Stankiewicz Battista ’56, MA ’70, who received the Faculty Lifetime Achievement award, is an associate professor emerita of accounting. She was called to teach at Rider after a very successful career as a public accountant. In her role as professor, she brought her real-world experience into the classroom to the benefit of her students for over two decades. In October 1997, accounting students, family and friends established the George and Marianne Battista Scholarship Fund in recognition of the many accomplishments made by the Battista’s during their tenure at Rider. This past year, she was also awarded an honorary Sesquicentennial Medal of Excellence. 

Thomas Marino ’69, the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award, is a CohnReznick partner and has been serving as co-chief executive officer of the  firm since J.H. Cohn combined with Reznick Group in 2012. He has been named to Accounting Today’s list of “Most Influential People in Accounting” numerous times, as well as to the publication’s “The Prestigious List of 100,” which honors accounting professionals committed to progressing the industry and who have a continual influence on its role in business. 

Marino was honored by the Anti-Defamation League as the recipient of its 2004 Humanitarian Award, and, in 2010, he was honored by Rider with its prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award for his contributions to his community and his continued dedication to the University. Marino presently is a member of the Rider Board of Trustees.

Jules C. Frankel posthumously received the Achievement in Service to the Community. A shareholder of Wilkin & Guttenplan P.C., he was with the firm since 1990 and had extensive litigation support experience in the areas of family dispute resolution, lost income analyses and condominium transition matters. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in private industry as well as for an international accounting firm. 

Frankel was very active in community service in New Jersey. He was a founding member of the Rider Accounting Advisory Council, where he was an active member for over 25 years. Frankel was also instrumental in the development of the Accounting Co-op program and he mentored and hired numerous Rider students each year for the co-op and internship program.

Ronald Spair ’77, ’82 was awarded the Achievement in Corporate Accounting. He joined OraSure in November 2001 as executive vice president and chief financial officer and was promoted to chief operating officer and chief financial officer and became a member of the Board of Directors in October 2006. 

Before joining OraSure, Spair was with Delsys Pharmaceutical Corporation as vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to Delsys, he was chief financial officer for three public companies – Supergen, Inc., Sparta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Envirogen, Inc. During this period, he was responsible for directing finance, accounting, financial planning, treasury, human resources, risk management and information technology matters at these companies. Spair currently serves on the Board of Directors for Fulton Financial Corporation and Pennsylvania Bio.

For more information about the Accounting Hall of Fame, contact Dr. Margaret O’Reilly-Allen, chair of the Department of Accounting, at [email protected].