Stuart Kessler, CPA, PFS, JD, LLM, AEP® , is a Senior Tax Managing Director in the New York office of RSM McGladrey. A specialist in personal financial planning, he was cited by Accounting Today in 2005 as "one of the 100 most influential people in accounting" and as one of the top people in personal financial planning.

An active member of both the AICPA and the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA), Mr. Kessler has served as Chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Board of Directors and President of the AICPA Foundation, and he is currently serving on the AICPA's Governing Council and the Awards Committee. He has also served on its Special Committee on Governance and Structure, Special Committee on Regulation and he was Hospitality Chairman of the Centennial Meeting and was awarded with the Institute's highest honor, the Gold Medal. Mr. Kessler is also a former President of the NYSSCPA and of its Foundation of Accounting Education, and received the Society's Distinguished Service Award. He currently chairs its Future of the Profession Oversight Committee.

Mr. Kessler has earned the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) from the AICPA. He is a past chairman of the Executive Committee of the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning Division, and for three years, he chaired the AICPA's Personal Financial Planning and Business Succession Planning Conference. Mr. Kessler makes frequent lecture and television appearances to discuss tax issues and personal financial planning topics.

At present, he is also chairing the International Standards Organization's (ISO) Technical Committee, which in 2006 established international standards for personal financial planning.

Recently installed as the first living member of the NYSSCPA Hall of Fame, as well as elected to the Brooklyn Technical High School Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievements in the accounting profession, Mr. Kessler has been recognized by Money magazine as one of the outstanding tax practitioners in the U.S. and by Worth magazine as one of our country's top financial planners. He has been an editor of the Estate Planning Column of the CPA Journal and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Estate Planning Council. Additionally, he served on the editorial board of the Financial Planning journal.

Mr. Kessler earned a BA from Brooklyn College, an MBA from the City College of New York, a JD from Brooklyn Law School, and an LLM in taxation from New York University.