BUFFALO, NY – René Jones, CPA, vice chairman of M&T Bank and chief financial officer of M&T Bank Corporation, will be honored as the Outstanding Accountant in Western New York at the 60th annual Canisius University Accounting Society Banquet on Thursday, April 28 at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens. Cocktails are at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6:15 p.m.
The Canisius University Accounting Society will also recognize Brendan Harrington ’88, CPA, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Computer Task Group (CTG), during the organization’s annual dinner. Harrington will receive the Dr. Joseph R. Coppola ’40 Award, which recognizes the exceptional achievements of a Canisius University accounting alumnus.
Timothy L. Christen, CPA, chairman and CEO, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP; and chairman of the board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), will serve as the evening’s keynote speaker.
At M&T, Jones heads the banks treasury and finance divisions, including the controller’s department, corporate finance, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations. He has overall responsibility for Wilmington Trust, M&T Bank’s wealth and institutional trust management subsidiary, and is a trustee of M&T Real Estate and director of M&T Insurance Agency, Inc. Jones also serves on M&T’s Management Committee.
Jones has more than two decades of experience in accounting, including banking and public accounting. He began his career at the Boston-based office of Ernst & Young, where he serviced clients in a variety of industries with an emphasis on financial services. Jones held numerous positions at The Group, Inc. before he joined M&T Bank in 1992 as an executive associate. He served in various management positions in the finance divisions before he was promoted to chief financial officer in 2005. In 2014, Jones was named vice chairman.
Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in management science from Boston College and a master of business administration degree from the University of Rochester Simon Business School.
Harrington is senior vice president and chief financial officer for CTG, a $370 million international (IT) services and solutions firm listed on NASDAQ as CTG. In this role, which he has held since 2006, Harrington oversees all financial operations for the company, as well as being responsible for information technology, investor relations, risk management and several other administrative functions. He joined the company in 1994 as manager of financial reporting. Harrington has since served in a number of managerial positions within the company including finance director for European operations, business unit controller, corporate controller and interim chief executive officer. Harrington began his accounting career in the assurance practice of PriceWaterhouse Coopers Buffalo office in 1988.
Harrington volunteers his time with various local not-for-profit organizations. He serves or has served on the boards of Hospice Buffalo, Buffalo Child & Family Services of Western New York, The Mental Health Association of Western New York and Bishop Timon St. Jude High School. He is also a member of the Canisius University Council on Accountancy.
Harrington holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Canisius University.
Tickets for the event are limited. For more information, call the Canisius University Department of Accounting at (716) 888-2870.
Canisius University is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
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