Gerson Jewish Studies Scholarship/Fellowship

Niety and Gary Gerson

In 1955, Gary R. Gerson was 21 years old and the youngest CPA in the country. Gerson earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1954 and a master’s degree in business administration the following year. He received a U.S. Navy Commission in 1955 and, in 1957, was appointed Officer in Charge of the Navy Area Audit Office in Orlando. Two years later, he began practicing public accounting in South Florida with Gerson, Preston and Co.

Gerson is a member of the American and Florida Institutes of Certified Public Accountants and devotes much of his time to charitable organizations. He is a former president and chairman of the board of the Mount Sinai Medical Center as well as a former general chairman of the Israel Bonds Organization of South Florida. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Douglas Gardens Jewish Home for the Aged and the Concert Association of Florida.

Gerson continues to support his alma mater by serving on the University of Florida Foundation Board of Directors. He sponsors a lecture series in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and provides funding for a visiting professorship. The university honored him as a distinguished alumnus in 1994 for his work as a philanthropist, civic leader and successful businessman.