CWU Professor Receives Outstanding Achievement Award

May 10, 2005

Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/Fax 509-963-2301/E-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Dr. Robert Holtfreter, Central Washington University distinguished professor of accounting and research, has received a new honor from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) for his "Outstanding Achievement in Accounting."

The ACFE is the largest anti-fraud organization in the world with more than 33,000 faculty and practitioners worldwide, whose members are dedicated to fighting fraud. This is just the third time in its history that this worldwide award has been presented. It recognizes individuals for their body of work in professional service and research. Holtfreter will be honored at their annual national meeting in Washington, D.C. this summer.

"I am highly flattered and honored to receive this most prestigious award," he says. "It has always been my philosophy that, if you strive for excellence in all you do, you will become a catalyst for positive change."

Holtfreter received a similar award from the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants (WSCPA) in 2001, for outstanding professional service and teaching.

"During the course of the years I've been involved with professional service, I've had the privilege of working with so many dedicated, highly competent individuals who are eager to strive for excellence and quality," he adds. "They have been most appreciable of my efforts and have graciously acknowledged my accomplishments. It has been with great pride to know that, with their assistance, we have made significant improvements in numerous organizations."

Holtfreter has held high-level leadership positions in numerous organizations, including the American Accounting Association (AAA), ACFE, Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), North American Accounting Society (NAAS) and WSCPA.

For the AAA, which has more than 15,000 faculty members worldwide, Holtfreter has served on the advisory council for nine years and numerous standing committees and task forces. He currently serves on its education committee and the executive committee for the Western Region. Holtfreter previously served as president of the AAA's Midwest region, Western region and the accounting, behavior and organizations research section, all of which have annual conferences.

For the ACFE, he currently serves on their research committee, higher education committee and is a member of the editorial board of their journal, "The White Paper." He has also been on the board of directors of the Tri-Cities chapter of the IMA, which has more than 75,000 members worldwide.

The CWU professor is one of the NAAS founders, where he served as their president and currently serves as a member of its board of directors.

For the WSCPA at the state level, Holtfreter has served on the advisory council for three years as a charter member, served as a member of their Career Systems Taskforce and currently serves on their Issues in Education Committee.

At the regional level, Holtfreter served as the president of WSCPA Yakima Chapter, currently serves on the board of director's as past-president and chairs the scholarship committee.

Additionally, Holtfreter has served on the editorial boards of 14 journals, including "The Accounting Review" and "Auditing: A Journal of Theory and Practice," which are two of the more prestigious accounting/auditing journals in the world.

He currently serves on the editorial board for the "Journal of Forensic Accounting," which is the premier journal in its field, and has published numerous articles in various journals and conference proceedings.

Holtfreter currently serves as co-chair for the City of Yakima's budget strategy team. He has also served on a variety of civic and charitable committees and currently serves as chair for the upland game advisory committee and as a member of the advanced hunter education advisory committee for the state of Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife.