Winter 2024
The Winter 2024 edition of the Lindner Accounting Review.
Over the past year, the Accounting Department has not only furthered our field leadership through impactful research activities, but also engaged in institution-building pursuits that help raise the visibility of accounting at Lindner. I would like to highlight several exciting developments — with additional examples in this newsletter — that further illustrate our mission.
Nan Zhou, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Norwood and Majorie Geis Chair of Accounting.
Two PhD students presented their research on board room gender diversity at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) annual conference in Washington, D.C. The presentation was well-received by hundreds of academics and investors attending in-person and online.
Four undergraduate students advanced to the national final of the Deloitte FanTAXtic case competition. Accompanied by faculty advisor Jason Bangert, the students traveled to Texas in January to compete at Deloitte University.
Accounting Career Day (fall semester) and Big 4 Night (early February) provided excellent opportunities for our students to connect with our employer partners. My thanks to all who organized these events, particularly Accounting Department Unit Manager Toshia Watkins and accounting student Jack Ernst.
Lastly, we recently held a farewell dinner for professors Robert (Rob) Larson and Margaret Reed, two former heads of the Accounting Department who retired within the past year. On behalf of the department, I sincerely thank Rob and Margaret for their leadership, and am grateful for their service to the Accounting Department, the Lindner College of Business and the accounting profession at large.
As always, we are very grateful for the support from our alumni, friends and corporate partners. Thank you!
Professor and Department Head
Norwood and Majorie Geis Chair of Accounting
Lindner students (left to right) Jimmy Armbruster, Vincent Piccolantonio, Lauren Vinson and Isaac Renderos with the Deloitte employees (first from left, first from right) who served as the “clients” during students’ presentation at the Deloitte FanTAXtic case competition national final
Undergraduate accounting students Jimmy Armbruster, BBA ’26, Vincent Piccolantonio, BBA ’26, Isaac Renderos, BBA ’25, and Lauren Vinson, BBA ’25, competed at the national final of the Deloitte FanTAXtic case competition, which familiarizes students with experiences and challenges that can arise in the tax industry.
Lingting Jiang (left) and Janean Rundo.
PhD students Lingting Jiang and Janean Rundo, CPA, presented at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) annual conference in Washington, D.C., in October.
Jiang and Rundo’s paper, entitled “The Effect of Board Gender Culture on Audit Partner Selection and Audit Fees Resourcing: Females in Critical Mass,” considers audit partner and board room gender diversity. This presentation was intended to help shape policy around diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the accounting field.
Zhou congratulated Jiang and Rundo on having their research paper presented at the highly selective PCAOB conference. “I am very pleased to see that the policy-driven research by Lingting and Janean has generated an impact inside and outside of academia,” he said.
Associate Professor Adam Olson, PhD.
A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Adam Olson, PhD, has uncovered a connection between local nonsmoking laws and greater corporate innovation after examining more than 50 years of data.
- Beta Alpha Psi donated $25,000 earned from volunteering to aid future students through scholarships or professional development funds. “We wanted to create a legacy that not only fills the pipeline of future accounting students, but also bridges the financial gap to allow more accounting students to reach the 150-credit hour requirement for the CPA exam,” said Beta Alpha Psi President Jack Ernst, BBA ’24.
- Big 4 Night, featuring representatives from Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG, was held February 6 at Lindner Hall. The event encourages student recruitment through co-ops and internships, networking opportunities and student organization engagement. Students discussed work expectations and the field’s culture with company representatives. Beta Alpha Psi and the Accounting Club assisted in supporting Big 4 Night.
- Janean Rundo, a fifth-year accounting PhD student, recently accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position at Bowling Green State University. Rundo, a two-time Lindner/UC graduate, has served as an adjunct professor at Lindner and appeared on the Dean’s List for Teaching Excellence.
- Accounting Career Day took place on October 10 at Nippert Stadium’s West Pavilion in partnership with the Ohio Society of CPAs. More than 100 students from a dozen area high schools attended the event, which is designed to pique students’ interest in studying accounting before they enroll in college. Students were welcomed by Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Student Experience Jaime Windeler, PhD, before hearing from current students and Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions Ashley McFarland.
- Meet the Firms and Industry Night, a career fair organized by Lindner Career Services and Beta Alpha Psi, hosted 52 employers and 300 students this past August. Co-ops, internships and full-time positions were available to students.
- Associate Professor-Educator Maureen Bruns led 15 accounting students in late October to Loveland, Ohio, to visit Bryan Equipment Sales. CEO Rick Bryan IV and other Bryan Equipment executives gave the students a warehouse tour and discussed how modern economic conditions affect a privately held business. Bryan Equipment’s audit partner, Jim Donnellon, talked about how to conduct an audit in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
- Intermediate Accounting I and Intermediate Accounting II students received visits from Cassady Schiller CPAs & Advisors and Kirsch CPA Group representatives, respectively, to discuss career paths and other topics.
- Accounting alum David Rodrigo, BBA ’94, MSBA ’06, and his partners at 1819 Wealth Advisors recounted their experience studying business at UC and the importance of co-op. Rodrigo has started a scholarship to benefit Business Fellows studying accounting and finance.
- In lieu of a final exam for the fall 2023, ACCT 8021 (Management Control Systems) students presented a final project that demonstrated their proficiency in Alteryx and Tableau. The overall remodeling of the course — taught by Associate Professor Natalia Mintchik, PhD, CPA, CISA, CMA — was made possible by a PwC Inspire Grant. Morgan Eberle, BBA ’17, and Brett Staudinger, BBA ’18, provided feedback on student presentations and shared their insights about technology-related career paths in public accounting on behalf of PwC.
- Zhou, second-year doctoral student Ziqi Ma and fourth-year doctoral student Katherine (Kexin) Yu coauthored a paper on board diversity and audit quality, “The Effect of Board Ethnic Diversity on Internal Control Weaknesses and Financial Misstatements: The Importance of Supportive Environment.” The paper was presented by Ma at the American Accounting Association (AAA) Management Accounting Section’s Midyear Meeting in Orlando on January 5 and by Yu at the AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting in New Orleans on January 12. Ma also attended the AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) Doctoral Consortium in Denver from January 18-20. Ma’s trip was partially funded by a FARS Doctoral Consortium and Travel Scholarship.
- Over 100 accounting and finance majors interacted with 18 accounting, finance and service firms on Feb. 20 at the Accounting Expo in the Lindner Hall atrium.
- A big welcome to Jason Bangert, PhD, and Assistant Professor Joe Lopez, PhD, who started at Lindner at the onset of the recent fall semester. Chelsea Anderson, current assistant professor of accounting at the University of Arkansas, will join Lindner in August.
- Adam Olson was promoted to associate professor of accounting with tenure and won a 2023 Lindner Research Excellence Emerging Scholar Award. Olson’s co-authored research article “Boards’ Reactions to Problems in Accounting for Income Taxes” was published by the Journal of the American Taxation Association. The article was then featured in the ‘Research in Action’ section of Portfolio, an annual magazine published by Lindner for alumni, donors, faculty, staff and other supporters of the college.
- Professor Linna Shi, PhD, was promoted to professor of accounting. Shi and Zhou were appointed as co-editors of the Asian Review of Accounting.
- Bruns was nominated for a pair of All-University Faculty Awards administered by the Office of the Provost. Bruns was nominated for the Mrs. A.B. “Dolly” Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the George Barbour Award for Good Faculty-Student Relations.
- The accounting department will welcome Eddie Riedl, John F. Smith Jr. Professor of Accounting and Management at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, on March 8 as part of its Workshop Series. Riedl’s talk will be held from 2:30-3:45 p.m. in Lindner Hall room 4235.
- As noted above, we wish the best in retirement to Professor of Accounting Robert Larson, PhD. Larson joined the accounting department in 2013 and served as department head from 2013-17. Among numerous distinguished honors and activities in his career, Larson served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation; published over three dozen articles in a range of U.S. and European academic and practitioner journals; and had his research cited more than 2,100 times in published articles, books and textbooks.
- Advisor: Toshia Watkins
- President: Jack Ernst
- Vice President: Naomi Simmons
- Treasurer: Sam Blazer
- Advisor: Toshia Watkins
- President: Jeena Patel
- Treasurer: Princess Acheampong
- Programming Chair: Ying Orr
- Membership Chair: Stephanie Martin
Thank you to those who donated to the Lindner accounting department discretionary fund in 2023. Your generous support helps keep our faculty and instructors up to date with the latest technology, training and credentials. This adds value to our program and to our students’ experience.
- Brian M. Bell
- John C. Benson
- Scott R. Bezjak
- The Blackbaud Giving Fund
- Blue & Co., LLC
- Bonnie A. Brotzge
- James D. Cashell
- Daniel E. Clark
- Ronald W. Evans
- Darold A. Fletcher
- FORVIS Foundation
- Thomas D. Freeman
- Paul D. Green
- David R. Harding
- Todd M. Immell
- Matthew N. Jessup
- Ellen J. Krause
- Matthew S. Laskovics
- John A. Linton
- Timothy J. McDermott
- Brian J. Mischel
- Mark H. Montgomery
- Michael H. Morris
- Adam J. Olson
- Michael S. Palm
- Sarah N. Palmer
- Michael Papadakis
- Anthony M. Perazzo
- James K. Purtell
- Dale D. Rayney
- Margaret P. Reed
- Bradley J. Rettig
- Timothy E. Reuter
- Molly M. Rogers
- Charles M. Rohr
- Daniel R. Slattery
- James H. Thomas
- Changjiang Wang
- Nan Zhou
Please consider donating to the discretionary fund and/or supporting the Beta Alpha Psi Scholarship and Support Fund.
Steven J. Bailey
Director, Barnes Dennig & Co.
Nicole Bish
Senior Tax Associate, Medpace
Robert Braun
Owner, Hometown Property Solutions
Alex Cook
Manager of Strategic Finance, Cintas
Scott DeVenny
Audit Partner, Grant Thornton LLP
Kenneth J. Jenkins
Partner, RSM
Roger T. Kramer
Vice President of Operational Accounting & Finance, Lithko Contracting
Chris Michel
Vice President of Finance & Accounting, Heritage Hill Captial Partners
Rob Moeddel
Assistant Bancorp Controller, Fifth Third Bank
Tony Perazzo
Partner, FORVIS
Sherri Richardson
Partner/Owner, Richardson & Associates, LLC
Jay Rueger
Tax Partner, Cassady Schiller
Sean Stewart
Director, Deloitte
Kelly Trame
Advisory Manager, Internal Audit & Enterprise Risk, KPMG
Ron Vonderhaar
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer at Lexmark
Paul Walker
Partner, EY
Joe Waller
Partner, PwC