Paul Stahlin ’74 – Creating Lasting Value

When Paul Stahlin ’74 was deciding what to study in college, it came down to psychology or business. His father, an accountant, told him that if he wanted to learn about business, he should study accounting because everything in business rested on that foundation. Accounting, his father said, would allow him to pursue anything in the business world. That advice turned out to be prophetic. In the 50 years since he graduated from Montclair State University in 1974, Stahlin has built an exemplary professional career – and, at the same time, a record of giving back and sharing his knowledge and experience to help others succeed.

Stahlin’s connection to Montclair and his fervent belief in being actively involved in the school has deep roots. As an undergraduate, he was a cofounder and first president of the Montclair State University’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, a national business fraternity. He and others started the accounting club and served as its vice president. He was on the College Life Union Board and participated in Homecoming. Stahlin was also part of the first class to graduate from the business school, just after it had been formally formed on campus after being known as business education. “I’ve seen the students that Montclair has produced. We’ve got some CEOs in the accounting world, in the Big Four. I am a strong proponent of the school and the way it’s grown. I’m proud of it,” Stahlin says.

Stahlin can count himself among the school’s outstanding graduates. Starting his career in public accounting with Price Waterhouse & Company, he went on to be corporate controller at Summit Bancorp (formerly UJB Financial), CFO of Fleet Credit Card Services, and president and CEO of Somerset Valley Bank. In 2010, he became chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants – the first banker ever to lead the organization and more than 360,000 CPAs around the world at the time. “It wasn’t GQ, but they had me on the front cover of the Journal of Accountancy, which is pretty funny,” Stahlin says. That same year, he was named one of the “100 Most Influential People of 2010” by Accounting Today.

Stahlin readily admits that the tremendous success of his career has blessed him: a long, happy marriage with his wife, Nonny (whom he met the first week of school at Montclair during freshman orientation), four accomplished daughters, nine grandchildren, and time to pursue his interests. “I’m most grateful. Life is good,” Stahlin says.

But there is another side to Stahlin’s life that is equally impressive and rewarding. He has devoted a huge amount of his time, knowledge, soul, and money to causes and concerns to make the world better, notably at Montclair. For 15 years, he was a board member and then chairman of the Montclair State University Foundation – a not-for-profit that raises and manages funds for the educational mission of the school, including sponsoring more than 350 annual scholarships. Serving on the school’s accounting advisory board, Stahlin worked to ensure “there was some connection between the college and the profession. It’s making sure that the college curriculums are keeping up with the needs of the profession, [such as] technological change, analytical ability, and interpersonal skills.”

Stahlin is in talks with the school about creating a healthcare business degree. “There needs to be more competence in the area of the business side of healthcare – [whether] being able to run a healthcare system or a doctor’s practice or a consortium of groups of physicians. They need the business sense. There’s a value proposition for people going into healthcare business.” As it affects everyone, healthcare is a major concern for Stahlin – or rather, applying his skills to make the system run smarter, serve people better, and reduce waste. “That’s what [CPAs] look to do – solve complex situations and provide solutions.” To that end, Stahlin serves on the boards of institutions including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and then RWJBarnabas Health.

In a way, Stahlin has forged a second full-time career of giving back, yet he does not see it that way. “I believe it’s kind of lifelong learning. I think anytime you’re involved with a different type of organization than what you’re normally doing within your career, I think you learn so much. I like to make a difference. I like to take my experience and my education and kind of leverage that to a point that I can make some type of transformation in an organization, make a change – not just for the sake of making change, but for betterment.”