Accounting Hall of Fame 1999 induction: Ray J Groves

Accounting Historians Journal, The, Jun 2000 by Beresford, Dennis R, Jensen, Daniel L, Groves, Ray J

August 16, 1999

San Diego, California

Remarks, Citation, and Response

REMARKS

by

Dennis R. Beresford

University of Georgia

Four weeks ago today, I received a voice-mail message from Dan Jensen telling me that Ray Groves had been elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame. While that was wonderful news, it got even better for me when Dan went on to say that Ray had asked that I be his presenter. I've had more than my fair share of professional recognition but, clearly, no higher honor than this opportunity to present Ray today.

I've known Ray for almost 28 years. I can actually pinpoint the date as October 1, 1971, when we both reported for service in the national office of Ernst & Ernst. Ray had moved across the hall from the Cleveland-practice office to become senior technical partner of the firm. My own new position was much less exalted, a manager in audit research.

To my great benefit, Ray took me under his wing almost immediately. Thus began probably the most exciting five years of my life, working directly with Ray as he developed a comprehensive national technical function for the firm.

The official citation, which I will read in a few minutes, lists many of Ray's professional accomplishments. They are certainly sufficient to warrant the high honor he receives today. But the official record may not capture personal characteristics of the man. In thinking about how best to do that, I started developing a list of words and terms that help describe him.

One obvious characteristic is his high energy level. I still remember my first out-of-town trip with Ray. We ran three blocks to his parking garage, each of us with a suitcase in one hand and a full briefcase in the other, in order to then speed to the airport and make a flight by about three minutes.

Another characteristic is his superb ability to communicate clearly and succinctly. One assignment we worked on together was to summarize, for the CEO of a major corporation, all of the rules on accounting for business combinations, on a single wallet-sized card!

Still another important reason for his success is his outstanding listening skills. His powers of concentration are amazing. When you are explaining something to him, you almost feel as though he is somehow reaching inside you to pull out the best you have.

When I asked my wife to read these comments, she said that the best way to describe Ray was that he always made you feel that you were important and a friend. Some other words and terms to describe Ray are:

* Smart (extremely so)

* Disciplined

* Demanding

* Creative

* Focused

* Loyal

* A big-picture thinker

* An internationalist

But for those who had the opportunity to work closely with Ray, I think there is one skill above all that distinguishes him. That is his ability to truly empower all of those who worked with him, years before empowerment became a popular management notion. Ray gave us plenty of responsibility and expected us to perform at a higher level than we thought ourselves capable.

Recently I heard that Ernest Hemingway once said, "Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can." Those of us who have worked closely with Ray recognize that we were indeed lucky as he helped us to perform better than we could.

When Ray retired from Ernst & Young in 1994, I sent him a letter thanking him for his friendship and support for over 20 years. Let me close my comments by reading one paragraph of that letter:

I recall the many enjoyable partner meetings at the firm. My favorite part always was the dinner when retiring partners reflected on their careers. Those presentations were often very entertaining. But from my perspective as a young partner at the time, the biggest impression was realizing how great an accomplishment it was just to complete a 35-40 year career with one finn. With that perspective in mind, for you to complete such a successful career and to lead the firm for 17 years is almost unbelievable in today's complex world.

You were my mentor and my role model, Ray. Your election to the Accounting Hall of Fame was a slam-dunk, in my view. So let me now read the citation.

CITATION

written by

Daniel L. Jensen

The Ohio State University

This national and internationally respected leader of the accounting profession was born in 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cleveland public schools where he studied French from the second through the tenth grades. He began his career at The Ohio State University in the arts and sciences college but transferred to business in his second year. His interest in accounting was stimulated and encouraged by the excellent teaching and advice of his introductory accounting professor and mentor, James McCoy, who recommended him for a General Electric scholarship and arranged for him to work part-time at a local public accounting firm. He also found time to serve as president of his Beta Alpha Psi chapter and pitcher-manager of his dormitory's baseball team. During his senior year, he obtained an internship with Ernst & Ernst in Cleveland. Upon graduation with honors in 1957, he decided to forego an opportunity to attend law school and joined E&E on a full-time basis. Former E&E chairman and Hall of Fame member Richard Baker recalls, "I did a lot of recruiting for the firm in those days and the only person who had a straight-A record was this young man from Cleveland."