The John D. and Lilly S. Harris Accounting Scholarship in honor of Paul Parkison will be used to recruit or retain high ability accounting undergraduate and/or graduate students.

Parkison began his career at Ball State as a freshman in 1954, earning two degrees at the university and returning to teach after earning a doctorate at Indiana University. He was honored as the first College of Business professor of the year in 1970. He recently received the Indiana CPA Society Distinguished Service Award, a recognition of his lifetime achievement in the field.

John D. Harris received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1967 from Ball State. He was the chief executive officer of Olive LLP of Indianapolis from 1987-2001. Under his leadership, the company merged with Bard, Kurtz and Dobson in 2001 to form BKD, LLP, the eighth largest certified public accounting consulting firm in the nation.

Harris is on the board of directors for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Indianapolis Corporate Community Council and the Fellows Society at Ball State.

In 1998, he was recognized by "Accounting Today" magazine as one of the most influential people in the profession. Harris was inducted into Ball State's College of Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

The couple reside in Carmel.