Grabowsky Named Penn State Accounting Alumnus of the Year
The Department of Accounting at the Penn State Smeal College of Business has selected Lou Grabowsky, chief operating officer of Grant Thornton LLP, as the 2011-2012 Penn State Accounting Alumnus of the Year. Grabowsky will receive the honor at the 2012 Beta Alpha Psi Banquet on April 18 on Penn State's University Park campus.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (January 30, 2012) -- The Department of Accounting at the Penn State Smeal College of Business has selected Lou Grabowsky, chief operating officer of Grant Thornton LLP, as the 2011-2012 Penn State Accounting Alumnus of the Year. Grabowsky will receive the honor at the 2012 Beta Alpha Psi Banquet on April 18 on Penn State's University Park campus.
At Grant Thornton, Grabowsky is member of the firm's national senior leadership team and is responsible for all day-to-day operations for the U.S. firm, which includes geographic regions and operational units. Prior to his appointment to COO, Grabowsky most recently served as managing partner of the Grant Thornton Central Region, comprising offices in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Tulsa, and Wichita. He led all operations within the region, including client service and professional matters.
An audit partner by background, Grabowsky is a certified public accountant in Texas and Ohio and has more than 30 years of experience. Prior to joining Grant Thornton in 2002, he had a lengthy career with Arthur Andersen where he held positions including partner-in-charge of the Assurance Practice for the firm’s Dallas office; the Consumer Products Industry leader for the Southwest Region; head of the Business Process Outsourcing Practice for North America; and managing partner for the Great Lakes Region.
Grabowsky also served as chief financial officer for a Fortune 1000 public company, where he had responsibility for credit, distribution, finance, internal audit, management information systems, and treasury.
He has been very active in civic and charitable organizations throughout his career, including the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Dallas Citizens Council, the Women’s Museum, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, the Retina Foundation, Ursuline Academy, and the Salesmanship Club of Dallas.
Grabowsky graduated from Smeal in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in accounting and currently serves on the college's Board of Visitors and Accounting Advisory Board. His daughter, Jennifer Grabowsky, is a 2005 Smeal accounting graduate.
