Pennsylvania Institute Honors Brinker as Outstanding Educator

By Purnell T. Cropper | July 1, 2011

The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants declared Thomas M. Brinker Jr., LL.M., CPA, CFE, ChFC, PFS, AEP, the recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Educator Award. The award recognizes full-time Pennsylvania educators who distinguish themselves in the classroom setting, excel in leadership and teaching, and who are actively involved in the accounting profession.

Brinker has been an accounting professor for 25 years and also accounting program coordinator at Arcadia University, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses. He demonstrates his commitment to learning and professionalism through his own personal dedication: eight professional certifications and involvement in 11 professional associations. In 1999, he received the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. Brinker engages in extensive research and publication to benefit the educational community, the accounting practice community and the special needs community.

Those who nominated Brinker speak to his incredible enthusiasm as a teacher and an accounting professional and to his dedication to learning. Brinker assists students with professional involvement and is a role model and valued colleague.

“What separates Tom Brinker from any number of other excellent accounting professors is, simply, his unselfishness,” says Joel Wagoner, Assistant Professor of Accounting. “There is no limit to what he will do for his students and for his professional colleagues.” Students deem Brinker’s classes as the most fun, but also the most rigorous. His catchy phrases and concepts have been labeled ‘Brinkerisms.'”

Brinker earned his B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University, his M.S.T. and M.S. from Widener University, his J.D. from Columbia Pacific University, and his LL.M. from Regent University School of Law. He lectures frequently on current and specialized topics in taxation for the financial services industry and speaks at professional education programs for accountants and attorneys. He is also a consultant to local CPA firms.

PICPA will recognize Brinker’s accomplishment at the institute’s Accounting Education Idea Exchange on July 22 in Hershey, Pa.