Brink, Victor Z.

1906-1992 A pioneering U.S. internal auditing author, educator, and practitioner. With experience straddling both academic life (at Columbia University) and professional life (at Ford Motor Company and the Pure Oil Company), Brink has been described as "the most influential individual in the history of internal auditing" (Flesher and Mcintosh, 2002, 149). He was one of three main cofounders of the *Institute of Internal Auditors (HA), along with *Robert B. Milne and *John B. Thurston. Brink authored the pioneering text Internal Auditing in 1941, which was based on a doctoral thesis and is considered by many to be the first major text on the subject. Still in print today, the book has been updated by other authors under the eponymous title Brink’s Modern Internal Auditing (Brink et al., 1999). Brink’s 1941 book acted as a major catalyst in the creation of the IIA, as it brought its author to the attention of Milne and Thurston. Brink made many contributions to the IIA: He held senior positions in the organization’s hierarchy (e.g., the IIA’s first research director) and he also wrote the IIA’s first history, Foundations for Unlimited Horizons (1977). The IIA awarded him with its first Lifetime Achievement Reward in 1991. Further reading: Brink (1941); Brink (1977); Brink and Dittenhofer (1994); Brink et al. (1999); Flesher (1991); Flesher and Mcintosh (2002)