On Tuesday, July 14, 2009 I was presented with the 2009 James Baker Speaker of the Year award at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners annual conference in Las Vegas. This award was established in 2008 when it was posthumously awarded to James Baker, a long-time and highly respected member of the ACFE faculty.

Receiving the award is a great honor for me for several reasons. First, continuing professional education is extremely important to me. Each generation of practitioners should leave the next generation  better equipped to fight the battle against fraud. I have made teaching a significant part of my life and plan to continue to do so. In addition, being the first recipient of the award since its initial award to James Baker is very special to me. There are many very qualified trainers that work with the ACFE, and to be recognized in this manner is the highest professional honor I have ever received.

But the most important reason why this award is so meaningful to me is that I feel privileged to have gotten to know Jim prior to his passing. In fact, it was just two years ago that I had the honor of co-presenting a 2-day training session with Jim as a post-conference session after the ACFE annual conference in Orlando. To say that I felt that I was in the presence of one of the most knowledgeable anti-fraud experts and one with the most amazing presentation skills would be an understatement. Jim was simply hilarious in his presentations, yet always imparting knowledge that went far beyond the written materials in the book. He made learning fun. Jim was also just one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

My thanks to the ACFE for this award....and to Jim for making me a better trainer.