Institute of Caribbean Studies
Monday, June 22, 2015
George S. Willie grew up in Yallahs, St. Thomas, Jamaica. He attended Excelsior High School and then worked at Barclay's Bank before enrolling at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He graduated magna cum laude from Howard with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and earned a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from American University. Mr. Willie has since served as Assistant Professor of Accounting at Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia.
He is now the managing partner of Bert Smith & Company, a certified public accounting and management consultancy in Washington D.C., and has over 30 years of public accounting experience. He specializes and has substantial experience in the audits of federal, state, and local governments, not-for-profit entities, healthcare, educational and private-sector organizations.
His professional memberships include: the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA); AICPA Benevolent Fund; AICPA Financial Accounting and Reporting Subcommittee; and AICPA Accounting Research Association, Inc. He also serves on the U.S. Government Accountability Office Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards and the Board of Visitors for the Howard University School of Business.
He has been an at-Large member of the AICPA Council and has served on various AICPA committees, including: Board of Examiners-CPA Examinations; Minority Initiatives (chairman); Nominations; PCPS Executive; and the Group of 100. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia and the Board of Governors of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs.
Mr. Willie has been named one of the "Top Most Influential Practitioners" by the CPA Magazine, and Accounting Today has previously given him a similar recognition. He received the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award in the field of Business and Community Service from Howard University.
He has been a member of the National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. (NABA) since 1974, and has received numerous awards from NABA for his contributions to the professional development of young accountants. In 2011 he established the George S. Willie centre in Kingston, Jamaica, with the objective of becoming the premier source of accounting and business information in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
