The American Institute of CPAs has named four new Accounting Doctoral Scholars, recognizing current CPAs interested in becoming accounting professors.
Launched in 2009, the Doctoral Scholars program has participants who attend an all-expenses-paid seminar that explores the requirements of a PhD in accounting and the teaching, research and service requirements of a college faculty member. Participants then receive a $20,000 stipend to support their education. The program is intended to help grow the number of CPAs with real-world experience in classrooms.
Previous iterations of the Accounting Doctoral Scholars program focused on audit and tax accounting, but the program has now expanded to include areas such as management accounting, information systems and financial analytics. More than 108 CPAs who went through the Accounting Doctoral Scholars program have completed their PhD, and another 45 are currently enrolled in PhD programs.
“Firms and businesses alike are seeking CPAs with professional skepticism, critical thinking, technological skills and the ability to understand how to leverage data to make informed decisions” said Jan Taylor-Morris, academic-in-residence at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, in a statement. “The profession is evolving, and we believe that having recently practicing CPAs join the ranks of academics will help inform practice-relevant research as well as allow these PhD, CPA professors the opportunity to share with the next generation of CPAs the increasing role data and technology play in the profession.”
The following CPAs will receive a $20,000 stipend this year to support their doctoral education:
- Katie Daugherty (Indiana University);
- Brian Forsberg (University of Illinois);
- Lauren Frederick (Cornell University); and
- Andrew Jones (Indiana University).
More information is available on the program's
