Mr. James Selvanathan Mather joined Turquand Youngs, the predecessor firm of Ernst & Young, in 1960 and served as a practitioner and partner for over 40 years. During his tenure as a Partner beginning in 1964 he brought in a strong business focus into management of the professional practice. He introduced a culture of client service, performance management and a fair and inclusive process for recruitment and training of staff. The time and effort he spent on counselling, mentoring, guiding and training staff was exemplary. To-date, very senior Chartered Accountants from Sri Lanka and overseas seek his advice and guidance on personal and professional matters. He served as Partner from 1964 to 2001, Staff Partner from 1964 to 1993 and as a Senior Partner from 1970 to 2001 playing a monumental role in the way Ernst & Young developed and continues to serve the profession and its clients.
Some of the many public listed and private companies to which Mr Mather provided his business acumen include Richard Pieris (1984 to 1990); Commercial Bank (1988 to 2006); Ceylon Tobacco Co. (1995 to 2003); Chemical Industries Colombo (1997 to 2010); Central Finance (1997 to 2001); United Motors (1997 to 2003); and Delmege Forsyth & Co (1988 to 2011). He is also a director of David Pieris & Co., a position he has held from 2004 to date.
In terms of public service, Mr. Mather was appointed as a Member of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka which was incorporated in 2002 and served as a Commissioner until 2005. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of Trinity College Kandy from 1995 to 2003.
He was a founder member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka and served on its many committees including Education, Training and Student Welfare; Accounting Systems and Standards; Ethics; Finance and Administration and Examination. He was also a member of the Council of the Institute in 1974 and 1975. For these servoces, he was the recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award 2015 of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Sri Lanka.
Mr. Mather holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Ceylon and a Bachelor of Science (Economics) from the University of London. He is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales; and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka.
Throughout his career Mr. James Mather showed the same level of commitment, enthusiasm, ability and aptitude in whatever he undertook for the profession, corporate community and the community he served.
The Institute of Certified Management Accountants is honoured to induct Mr. James Mather to the Global Accounting Hall of Fame® for his services to the profession in Sri Lanka.