Spring 2022
The spring 2022 edition of the Lindner Accounting Review.
Dear Students, Alumni and Friends of the Lindner Accounting Department,
In the spring edition of the Lindner Accounting Review, we honor the achievements of our faculty and students, while also recognizing one of the newer members of our Accounting Advisory Board. Additionally, we present the superb adjustments to a graduate-level course made by Natalia Mintchik, PhD, CPA, CISA, associate professor of accounting, to better prepare students for modern accounting, as well as a profile of a student who recalled her “decision day” choice to make accounting her major.
Campus returning closer to a pre-pandemic way of life bodes well for the summer, when ample accounting students return from their “busy season” internships. We are hopeful that the situation will remain calm, especially for the fall semester, as we plan to hold our annual Meet the Firms and Industry Night in September.
The support we receive from the donors to the Lindner Accounting Department Discretionary Fund is critically important to our mission. With those funds, we ensure our faculty remain current on training, certifications and research by funding travel and research presentations. We were able to host six outside speakers this year and hope to increase that number in the coming academic year, as work travel returns to normal. Outside contributions also allow the department to provide support for our doctoral students — there will be six in the fall! We are proud to train the next generation of accounting professors.
Finally, it is time for me to step down as Department Head. After five years and a pandemic, I am eager to return to my department faculty role and to spend more time with students in the classroom. I am thrilled to announce that Nan Zhou, PhD, professor and the Norwood and Marjorie Geis Chair of Accounting and Director of the Accounting PhD program, will succeed me. Nan will be an astute and thoughtful leader who will ensure the continued success of the department.
Best,
Margaret Reed, PhD, CPA, CMA
Accounting Department Head and Professor-Educator of Accounting
For Accounting Advisory Board member Chris Michel, MSA, CPA, the potential return on investment in a fulfilling career first attracted him to accounting during his first year at UC.
“I really wanted to apply myself because I was the first generation in my family to get a four-year degree or better,” said Michel, BBA ’10, MS ’11.
Then came a tipping point that validated his choice.
Chris Michel, BBA ’10, MS ’11.
“I started in the pre-law program, and I had to take an accounting course,” recalled Michel. “After one of my finals, I asked my professor, Ginger Clark, if she thought I could do this as a profession. She said, ‘You have the accounting gene, as we like to call it.’”
Additional validation came a few years into Michel’s tenure at Clark Schaefer Hackett, when Margaret Reed asked him to join the department advisory board.
“It’s a huge honor, your alma mater asking you to advise on where they should steer the curriculum,” he said.
That honor soon repeated itself in Michel’s career track. About a year into his role as Tax Reporting & Strategy Manager at PwC, his former client, Terrex & Development Construction, offered him a role as director of accounting and finance.
“It’s kind of the highest compliment you can get as a professional, when one of your clients says, ‘We want you to join our team.’”
Michel is thrilled to stay involved as an alumnus and help ensure that Lindner’s accounting program best prepares students for the industry.
Michel lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Mary (UC Nursing alum), and their one-year-old daughter, Victoria.
“Our daughter was born at UC West Chester, so we are all proud Bearcats!”
- Forty students and 19 companies recently attended the third annual Public Accounting Expo in Room 1220/1225 at the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
- First-year student Nicole Patricio-Agosto, BBA ’25, recently shared some of the “firsts” she’s experienced from making the decision to attend the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business one year ago to now preparing for her first co-op this summer.
- The latest round of revisions to Management Control Systems (ACCT 8021), a graduate-level accounting course, exposes students to data analytics and robotic process automation tools in the context of management accounting.
Jack Ernst, BBA, BS ’24, already has plenty on his educational plate. A triple major at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business (accounting, finance, information systems), Ernst spent spring semester as a tax intern at Barnes Dennig, a Certified Public Accounting and consulting firm with clients in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
Jack Ernst, BBA, BS ’24.
Ernst’s responsibilities included preparing business and individual tax returns, all the while learning the value of communication and knowing “when to ask for help.”
“The best part of working at Barnes is that everyone has my best intentions at heart and will always be willing to lend a hand to help me learn and grow,” Ernst said. “Busy season is a stressful time for everyone in public accounting.”
Ernst, the current membership chair of the UC Accounting Club, will be president of Beta Alpha Psi for the 2022-23 school year. He is scheduled to be a tax intern this summer with BKD, KPMG (in Oklahoma City) next January and with Deloitte in summer 2023.
The Cincinnati native noted that he has been treated like a professional, not a student, with Barnes Dennig.
“The best part of internships within public accounting is that at most firms you are treated as a first-year associate, so you get a taste of what post-graduation life feels like,” Ernst said.
Adjunct Professor Elliott E. Lieb, CFE, has been bringing his real-world experience to UC accounting students since 2014.
He teaches two elective courses for undergraduate and MS Accounting students: Fraud Examination and Forensic Accounting. In his professional life, Lieb is a consultant and expert in financial fraud investigations, money laundering and white-collar crime cases and criminal tax defense. Lieb invests himself deeply in his teaching and career counseling of students, bringing career guidance in new fields to UC students.
We thank him for his dedication and commitment to UC students and we value him as a respected member of the Lindner teaching team in the Department of Accounting and Business Law.
- Outstanding Undergraduate Student: Maria Santilli
- Outstanding Student in Co-op: Julia Gavin
- Outstanding Master’s Student: Cody Held
- Adah Pylkas Scholarship: Nana Agyemang
- Blue & Co. Scholarship: Jenna Lovely and Erick Sibri
- Norbert G. Backhus Scholarship Fund: Ahamad Odeh
Beta Alpha Psi 2022-23 Student Officers
- President: Jack Ernst
- Vice President: Santiago Garcia
UC Accounting Club 2022-23 Student Officers
- President: Brady Leugers
- Treasurer: Cole Flesch
- Programming Chair/External VP: Annie Robb
- Internal VP: Grace Lyness
Steven J. Bailey
Director, Barnes Dennig & Co.
Nicole Bish
Senior Tax Associate, MedPace
Robert Braun
Senior Financial Analyst, 84.51
Alex Cook
Senior Accountant, Cintas Corporation
Scott DeVenny
Partner, Grant Thornton LLP
Kenneth J. Jenkins
Partner, RSM
Roger T. Kramer
Chief Financial Officer, Pioneer Cladding & Glazing Systems, LLC
Chris Michel
Director of Accounting & Finance, Terrex Development and Construction
Rob Moeddel
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Fifth Third Bank
Tony Perazzo
Partner, BKD, LLP
Sherri Richardson
Partner/Owner, Richardson & Associates, LLC
Jay Rueger
Tax Partner, Cassady Schiller
Sean Stewart
Managing Director, Deloitte
Kelly Trame
Advisory Internal Audit Associate, KPMG
Ron Vonderhaar
Vice President, Global Corporate Tax at Lexmark
Paul Walker
Partner, Ernst & Young
Joe Waller
Partner, PwC
Thanks to those who donated to the Lindner Accounting Department Discretionary Fund during the 2021-22 fiscal year. Your generous support helps us keep our faculty and instructors up to date with the latest technology, training and credentials. This adds value to our program and our students’ experience.