Alumni in the News

Bernadine Coles Gines, MBA '47

In 1954, Bernadine Coles Gines, MBA ’47, became the first African-American female CPA in the State of New York and the 34th African-American CPA in the U.S. 

A native of Charlottesville, Virginia, Mrs. Gines completed high school with valedictory honors.  In 1946, she received a BS degree in Business Administration from Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), ranking number one in her graduating class.  Mrs. Gines received her MBA with a major in accounting from New York University in 1947.  She met her experience requirement working for a small accounting firm in New York, and spent most of her career in the employ of the Comptroller for the City of New York, where she held various titles in the accounting service and in the computer programming service.  During the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, she worked closely with outside vendors to restructure the City's accounting records.  Since her retirement in 1991 she has been an active volunteer with Marble Vision, the media arm of Marble Collegiate Church, and as a tax counselor with AARP.  Mrs. Gines and her sister, Ruth Harris, the first African-American female CPA in Virginia, MBA '49, were featured in a recently published book, "A White Collar Profession:  African-American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921."

On October 17, the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS), an MBA student organization, presented Mrs. Gines with its Distinguished Alumnus Award at its annual conference.  The award recognizes outstanding minority alumni of the NYU Stern MBA Programs.