John L. Rhoads was well-known for applying his brilliance and technical skills in helping Alabama entrepreneurs launch their businesses as a nationally recognized leader in the accounting industry.
He started his career in 1942 at Ernst & Ernst, which eventually became Ernst & Young. He was made partner in 1967 and retired in 1980.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he served companies in Huntsville’s rapidly-growing aerospace sector, helping several become large publicly-owned institutions. As a senior auditing and accounting technical partner, he guided companies through their interactions with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Some of the industries he worked included aerospace, farming, healthcare, and manufacturing. For example, his financial expertise helped a Birmingham-area medical facility open its doors, grow, and proceed with a stock offering. He was admired by his colleagues for his insistence on adhering to the highest ethical standards of the public accounting profession.
As a result of his reputation, he served as Council Chairman of the Alabama Society of CPAs and President of the Birmingham Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants as well as a member of that organization’s National Board of Directors.
Rhoads was an ardent supporter of Alabama’s educational institutions, either by his service to the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an adjunct faculty member or through scholarship and program support.
That support at The University of Alabama takes form in the John L. & Margaret E. Rhoads Endowed Scholarships in the Accounting, Athletics, and Food and Nutrition programs, plus the John and Ann Rhoads Softball Stadium, built in 2000 and recently enhanced. Endowed scholarships at the University of Alabama at Birmingham support students in the Accounting program.
Rhoads was a longtime executive committee member of the Jefferson County chapter of The University of Alabama National Alumni Association, serving as its Vice President and Treasurer for over 20 years. He lived in Birmingham and graduated from The University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
Rhoads passed away in 2001; his widow Ann Rhoads passed away in 2021.
