By, Karen Flores, Assistant Features Editor
Manhattan College alumni Ken Bouyer ‘90 was recently honored as one of 27 influential leaders by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) International.
The AACSB International Class of Influential Leaders occurs annually and aims to recognize and celebrate notable alumni from institutions that hold AACSB accreditation whose accomplishments and admiral work will serve as a model for future business leaders. This year, the class features leaders and advocates of diversity and inclusion.
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Bouyer entered Manhattan College in 1986 with a scholarship as a first generation college student. He majored in accounting, was a short forward on the Manhattan College men’s basketball team and formed part of the Black Student Union as well.
The influence of a faculty member helped him choose his accounting major at MC.
“It was a faculty member that mentioned if you’re an accounting major, you’ll always be employed. And of course, that stuck with me being a first generation college student because I knew when I graduated, I needed to get a job,” Bouyer said.
Though his emphasis was on being a student, Bouyer said being an athlete enriched his college experience as he “enjoyed [his] time playing basketball with great teammates and had a wonderful experience overall.”
Upon his graduation in 1990, Bouyer began working at Ernst and Young, now known as EY, and has been with the company for 31 years. He is currently the EY Americas Director of Inclusiveness Recruiting and is also a member of the board of trustees at Manhattan College.
While in his current position, Bouyer created and implemented the global EY recruiting strategy in the Americas. It focuses on making sure that EY attracts and creates diverse and inclusive candidate pools.
“I set the strategy and make sure that we at EY are very laser focused on hiring the most diverse and best talent that’s out there within the firm. We define diversity very broadly at EY. So it’s ethnicity, gender. It’s the LGBTQ community, it’s our veterans. It’s people with disabilities. So my team and I focus on setting the right strategy and focus to make sure that EY again is a very, very diverse firm,” Bouyer said.
He was nominated for this recognition from the AACSB by Don Gibson, Ph.D., dean of the O’Malley school of business and by Aileeen Farrelly, Ph.D, professor of accounting and assistant dean of the O’Malley school of Business.
“I nominated Ken Bouyer for the recognition because this year the emphasis was on inclusion and diversity. I knew Ken had done great work with Ernst and Young in the area
of diversity and inclusion with his recruiting strategy,” Gibson said.
Farrelly commented on Bouyer’s involvement in Manhattan College and his passion for giving back, which are more reasons as to why he was nominated.
“He is always giving back and appreciates where he came from. He’s also very, very influential in our honor society, Beta Alpha Psi. He has a way about him that really makes it easy for people to kind of talk about the subject [diversity and inclusion] and approach the subject. He’s in a position where he can really make a difference and he does that. I think that’s very Lasallian,” Farrelly said.
Bouyer expressed his appreciation to both Gibson and Farrelly for choosing him as a nominee for the award, stating he is very humbled and is honored by the recognition bestowed upon him.
Bouyer recalls his experience at MC with much fondness and appreciation for the experiences he got. He hopes that students take advantage of the opportunities given to them and do the best they can to achieve greatness.
“Make sure you enjoy your experience at Manhattan, immerse yourself into what I’ll call the Manhattan experience,” Bouyer said. “Meet as many of your peers as you can and your colleagues, really engage with the faculty to really absorb the Manhattan College experience overall.. focus on being excellent at what you do and what you’re studying.”
Gibson and Farrelly are proud and very glad that Bouyer has been recognized for his efforts in making the world a better and more inclusive place and hope that students see that they too can make a difference with hard work and dedication.
“He wants the best for our students. He wants the best for the people around him. And I think that’s just what’s so special about him as an alum, as a faculty and as a parent. He does a lot for a lot of people so he deserves it,” Farrelly said.