Gift Honors Memory of Beloved Accounting Professor
Dr. Larzette Hale, a former professor who served as the head of the School of Accountancy in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business for 13 years. Dr. Hale retired in 1990, but not before influencing many student’s lives, including accounting alum Robert Phillips. Dr. Hale, who become Robert’s mentor, made sure he took advantage of a variety of opportunities during his time at USU.
Life comes with pivotal moments that can change the trajectory of one’s path. For Utah State University alum Robert Phillips, that pivotal moment came when he met Dr. Larzette Hale. Robert, who at the time was an undergraduate at another institution, was looking to finish a degree in accounting and had started making visits to potential schools. After sitting down with Dr. Hale, a professor and head of the School of Accountancy in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Robert’s mind was made up.
“Dr. Hale made me feel wanted, included, needed – it was amazing – she sat down with me and mapped out semester by semester exactly what it would take to finish my degree,” Robert said. “She spent a full hour with me. It was a completely different experience than I had with any other school visit, and I knew instantly that I wanted to be around someone like her.”
During his time at USU, Robert focused on his studies and looked for opportunities to grow his accounting skills. Dr. Hale, who had become his mentor, made sure he took advantage of a variety of opportunities. As he worked toward earning his accounting degree, he taught a class, served as a tutor in the accounting lab and obtained a job working in accounts payable at USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory — all thanks to Dr. Hale’s assistance and guidance.
Robert’s experience on the USU campus, and with Dr. Hale, was not singular. As the state’s land-grant institution, the university is known for its world-class professors who work one-one-one with students in an array of settings to make sure graduates are prepared to go on and make a difference in society. Dr. Hale was one such favorite professor at USU and she was a trailblazer in her own right, forging her path and career in accounting.
At 11 years of age, following the death of her father, Dr. Hale was placed in an orphanage. An excellent performance in a typing class led to a position in the orphanage’s business office. She found a mentor in the orphanage’s accountant, Ms. Brooks, began to assist with bookkeeping and was inspired to pursue studies in accounting.
After graduating from Langston University, during a time when Black students were not allowed to enroll in Oklahoma’s two state universities, Dr. Hale earned a master’s in accounting from the University of Wisconsin. She also worked as a teacher at Clark College, where a mentor encouraged her to sit for the CPA Exam. In 1951, she earned her CPA license in Georgia. Four years later, Dr. Hale became the first Black female CPA to earn a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. She late founded a prosperous CPA firm and became a member of the USU faculty in 1971.
Dr. Hale was the head of USU’s School of Accountancy for 13 years before retiring in 1990. She served as the national president of both the American Woman's Society of CPAs and Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting, finance and information systems.
Dr. Hale’s distinguished career of 43 years led the American Institute of CPAs to call her one of the most influential CPAs of all time. After her retirement, she was appointed by the governor to serve as a Regent on the Utah Board of Higher Education, the first Black Regent in the history of the group. After her passing in 2015, the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business announced the Larzette Hale Scholarship in Accounting in remembrance of her many accomplishments.
Robert was always mindful that Dr. Hale’s experiences molded her life and had a great deal of influence on her as a person and as a professor.
“She was always looking for opportunities to stretch, to break barriers – she did that in her life and expected the same from her students,” Robert said.
In 2020, as the pandemic took hold and lives began to change, Robert took a moment to reflect on his life and the people who made a difference to him. He wondered, with everything going on in the world, what could he do? So, on August 18, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, Robert wrote a check to the Larzette Hale Scholarship in Accounting, in honor of the professor who had made such an impact on his life.
“We look at society today, look at the conflicts and the racial tension and we need to be reminded of, and learn from, our history,” Robert said. “Dr. Hale taught by example and I hope the students who receive the Larzette Hale Scholarship take the time to learn about her life and are inspired to do better because of her. I also hope the recipients know how important they are as students and look forward to the positive impacts they can one day make on society.”
For Robert, the education he received under Dr. Hale’s guidance and encouragement made a world of difference to the success in both his career and life. After graduating in 1990 as the business school’s valedictorian, Robert joined Price Waterhouse in Virginia. A few years later, he returned to Utah to earn a law degree and has since moved to Idaho where he uses skills from both accounting and law, formerly serving as president of the Hawkins & Smith Companies, and now serving as president and CEO of the Brighton Corporation, a real estate development company and one of the largest private companies in Idaho. Robert has also spent time as an instructor at Boise State teaching accounting and business law.
Robert married fellow Aggie Michelle L. Phillips, who graduated with a degree in secondary education in 1992. The couple has five children, four of whom are also USU graduates, and their last child is currently attending USU.
“We are Aggies – there is connection to other Aggies wherever we are in the world,” said Robert. “I am so grateful that I met Dr. Hale and made the decision to follow her instructions and advice. She forever changed my life for the better.”
Contact
Zach Nyborg
Development Director, Business
435-797-9258
zach.nyborg@usu.edu