Barry Melancon, president and CEO of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, speaks about the future of American accounting practices last month in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium at the John M. Olin School of Business. James Castellano (left), chairman of the board of RubinBrown LLP, the nation’s fortieth largest accounting firm, and Mahendra R. Gupta, Ph.D., dean of the business school and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management, were among the audience members.