Academic Advising
Undergraduate
Academic advising is required for all undergraduate students prior to registration.
Freshmen will be advised through the Center for Student Success and First-Year Experience. You can make an appointment by following this link https://cssfye.olemiss.edu/advising/.
Oxford campus: Sophomore, Junior and Senior UM accountancy students click the button below to make an appointment for academic advising.
Powered by Appointment-Plus
Advisors:
Oxford Campus:
Erin Ridout, emridout@olemiss.edu, (662) 915-6662
Desoto Campus:
Sheriece Robinson, slrobin3@olemiss.edu, (662) 393-1656
Tupelo Campus:
Jayme Nobles, ,
Assistant to the Dean:
Hillary Goulding, hhudson@olemiss.edu, (662) 915-5009
Graduate
For more information on both the Master of Accountancy and Master of Taxation, contact
W. Mark Wilder, Ph.D., Dean and KPMG Chair of Accountancy
200G Conner
662-915-5756
Mark Wilder is dean and KPMG Chairholder in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. His educational background includes an associate’s degree from Tyler (Texas) Junior College, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama, an MBA from the University of South Alabama and a Ph.D. in accounting from Florida State University. Wilder is a CPA and has been on the faculty at Ole Miss since 1993, serving as dean since 2006. His expertise is in financial accounting, and he continues to teach the two intermediate courses as well as a doctoral seminar in financial accounting. He has published in a variety of journals including Accounting Horizons, Advances in Taxation, the Journal of International Accounting Research, the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, the Journal of Computer and Information Systems, the CPA Journal and others.
Wilder has been instrumental in the development of the School of Accountancy’s highly successful internship program. He has also been active in the Mississippi Society of CPAs, previously serving as president of the Northeast chapter, as statewide treasurer, an appointment on the board of governors, and as chair of the Awards, Education and Scholarships Committee.
Wilder has received the top two campuswide faculty awards at Ole Miss including the prestigious Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005 and the Faculty Achievement Award in 2004, which is an all-around faculty award recognizing outstanding teaching, research and service. In 2006, he was honored as the MSCPA Outstanding Educator and was also the University of Mississippi HEADWAE Faculty Honoree for 2006. He is also a two-time winner of both of the Patterson School’s top faculty awards (the Outstanding Teacher Award and the Outstanding Researcher Award).
On a personal note, Wilder was an All-American and ALL-SEC tennis performer at the collegiate level and attained an ATP world ranking of No. 298 in 1987. He and his father, Red, were inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame together in 2004. Wilder is married to the former Denise (Dede) English of Penasacola, Fla. They have two sons, Zach and Sam.
Kendall O. Bowlin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
314 Conner
662-915-5406
Kendall Bowlin, CPA (inactive), joined the School of Accountancy faculty in 2008 after earning his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his doctoral studies, Kendall received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Ole Miss School of Business and a Master of Accountancy from the Ole Miss School of Accountancy in 1998 and 1999, respectively, and then spent four years as an auditor in Ernst & Young’s Memphis, Tenn., office.
Bowlin’s primary teaching and research interests are in the field of auditing. His research focuses on the strategic aspects of interactions between auditors and client managers. He is particularly interested in the ways in which institutional features of the audit environment affect the auditor’s ability to anticipate and respond to the manager’s possible tendencies toward financial misreporting.
Bowlin and his wife, Lisbeth, have two children, Mary Kennedy and Charlie.
Brett Cantrell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
104A Conner
662-915-5409
Brett Cantrell is an assistant professor of accounting at the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. Cantrell received his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. His B.S. and M.S. in accounting are from the University of Mississippi.
Cantrell’s research examines the quality and usefulness of bank accounting estimates such as the allowance for loan losses. His work has been published in The Accounting Review. Cantrell is a certified public accountant in the state of Mississippi (inactive). Prior to his doctoral studies, he served in the audit practice of KPMG’s Birmingham, Ala., office.
Judith Cassidy, Ph.D., Associate Professor
309 CME
662-915-5445
Judith Cassidy, CPA, CMA, is an associate professor of accountancy. She holds a B.A. in economics from Tulane and attended Tulane University School of Public Health. She worked in medical practice management for 12 years and then returned to school to earn an MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. She is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants, the Mississippi State Society of CPAs and Financial Executives International. She has published in Advances in Accounting, the Journal of Applied Business Research, The Woman CPA, the Journal of Cost Management and Benefits Quarterly. Cassidy teaches and researches in the areas of cost/managerial accounting and international accounting and coordinates the School of Accountancy’s study abroad program in London each summer.
James W. Davis, Ph.D., Peery Professor of Accountancy
204B Conner
662-915-1543
James W. Davis is a professor in the Patterson School of Accountancy and holds the distinguished Peery Chair in Accountancy. He served as dean of the school from 1993 until 2002, and has been a member of the accountancy faculty since 1965. Davis is a native of Panola County, Miss., and attended public schools at Pleasant Grove and Sardis. He holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Ole Miss, all with majors in accountancy.
He is a Certified Public Accountant (retired) and has experience in industry and in the Houston office of Arthur Andersen. He served as president of the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants in 1983-84. Previously, he had served as the society’s secretary, chair of several committees and as a member of the board of governors.
As the unofficial historian for the society, he authored a history of accountancy in Mississippi in 1977, based on his doctoral dissertation.
Former students and friends of Davis have established the James W. Davis Scholarship in Accountancy at the University of Mississippi Foundation. The endowment of approximately $600,000 provides $3,000 scholarships annually for several accountancy students and is administered by the dean of the Patterson School of Accountancy.
Davis received the university-wide Outstanding Teacher Award in 1985 and received the Patterson School’s outstanding teacher awards in 1983, 1988, 1993, 2004 and 2008. He received the Mississippi Society’s Outstanding Educator Award in 1993.
He is a trustee of the Mississippi Society’s Educational Foundation. He holds memberships in Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi. He is a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford. He enjoys travel, reading and collecting books and has a complete collection of Ole Miss annuals.
James W. Davis’ Curriculum VITAE
Victoria Dickinson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
204C Conner
662-915-5448
Vicki Dickinson, CPA, is an assistant professor of accounting at the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. She received her Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her B.S. and M.S. in accounting are from St. Cloud State University, Minn.
Dickinson’s research examines the effect of industrial organization on firm performance and valuation through the lens of financial statement analysis. Her work has been published in The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Business, Finance and Accounting, and Issues in Accounting Education.
Dickinson was the recipient of the 2011-12 Outstanding Teacher of the Year and the 2010-11 Outstanding Researcher of the Year for the Patterson School of Accountancy, and received the 2007-08 J. Michael Cook Excellence in Teaching Award, 2008 Warrington College of Business Teacher of the Year, 2009 Judy Fisher Teaching with Technology Award, and was a 2008-09 Anderson Scholar Faculty Honoree while on the faculty at the University of Florida.
She is a certified public accountant in the state of Minnesota (inactive). She was an auditor and part of the Management Advisory Services team for Schweitzer, Rubin, Gottlieb and Karon, CPAs in Minneapolis, Minn. (now CBIZ/Mayer Hoffman McCann). She later worked as a senior financial analyst (international banking) at Wells Fargo (Minneapolis, Minn.) and as a risk analyst at Lockheed Martin (Calabasas, Calif.).
Rick Elam, Ph.D., Reynolds Professor of Accountancy
316 Conner
662-915-5281
Rick Elam is the Reynolds Chair of Accountancy in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi, where he teaches elementary accounting for honors students, accounting systems, policy and ethics for graduate students. He was honored by the Mississippi Society of CPAs with its 2011 Outstanding Educator Award.
The Reynolds Chair is endowed as part of a $16.5 million gift in honor of Ole Miss accountancy alumnus E.H. “Pat” Patterson in recognition of his 25 years of service to Donald W. Reynolds and the Donrey Media Group, which Reynolds created. In response to the gift, university officials have renamed the school the “Patterson School of Accountancy.”
Before moving to Ole Miss, Elam, a nationally known authority on accounting education, served as dean of the College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University, one of the largest accredited business schools with 3,000 majors and 111 faculty.
From 1989-95, Elam served as vice-president-education of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), where he managed three divisions: the Examinations Division, which prepares the Uniform CPA Examination and was administered semiannually to 65,000 candidates; the Academic and Career Development Division, which influences the academic community and the public to attract highly qualified people into the accounting profession and ensure they receive the highest quality precertification education; and the AICPA Library, which serves the information and research needs of the institute’s 325,000 members.
Prior to joining the AICPA in 1989, Elam was dean of the School of Business at Rutgers University (Camden). Previously, he was professor and director of the School of Accountancy at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
He has written numerous professional articles and participated as a speaker at many national and international educators’ conferences. He is conducting research on the topic of Extensible Business Reporting Language. Elam serves on the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He holds a B.S. degree in business administration and economics from Culver-Stockton College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in accountancy from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Elam is married to Karen J. Elam. They have two adult children.
Dale L. Flesher, Ph.D., Associate Dean and Professor
200 Conner
662-915-7623
Dale L. Flesher is professor and Arthur Andersen Alumni Lecturer in the School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi, and serves as associate dean of the School of Accountancy. He is the coordinator of all graduate programs in accountancy at Ole Miss. Flesher joined the Ole Miss faculty in 1977, following four years at Appalachian State University. He received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. He holds a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Cincinnati, and holds CPA, CIA, CMA, CFM, CFE and CGFM certificates. He has authored more than 300 articles for more than 100 different professional journals throughout the world, including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accountancy, Management Accounting, Internal Auditing, Internal Auditor, The CPA Journal, Government Accountants Journal, Managerial Auditing Journal, Taxation for Accountants, TAXES, the Accounting Historians Journal, Accounting and Business Research, Accounting, Business and Financial History, Business and Economic History, and Accounting, Organizations and Society. He is also the author of 50 books in 87 editions, including Operations Auditing in Hospitals, Internal Auditing Standards and Practices, Independent Auditors Guide to Operational Auditing, Introduction to Financial Accounting, CMA Examination Review (with Irv Gleim), and the 50th anniversary history of the Institute of Internal Auditors and the 75th anniversary history of the American Accounting Association. He also authored books on the history of AACSB and NASBA. He has had five tax books published by Commerce Clearing House. One of his recent books was a history of the accountancy program at Ole Miss.
Flesher is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Institute of CPAs, Mississippi Society of CPAs, American Taxation Association, Institute of Internal Auditors, Association of Government Accountants, Institute of Management Accountants, American Accounting Association, Newcomen Society, Mississippi Historical Society and the Academy of Accounting Historians (for which he served as international president in 1988). Flesher has served as editor of The Accounting Historians Journal, a position he held from 1989 through 1994. He previously edited The Accounting Historians Notebook for 10 years. Flesher has won numerous research and teaching awards. In 1987, he won the University of Mississippi’s Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award as the outstanding faculty member campuswide. Earlier, in 1976, he won the campuswide outstanding teacher of the year award from Appalachian State University. He won the 1990 Leon Radde Award from the Institute of Internal Auditors as the outstanding auditing educator worldwide. He was the Mississippi Society of CPAs 1998 Educator of the Year. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Finance and Industry. In 2005, he received the inaugural Thomas J. Burns Accounting Biography Award. He received four major awards in 2011. The AICPA honored Flesher with its Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award for his lifetime contributions to the accounting profession. The University of Mississippi gave Flesher its highest research honor, the Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award, for the many scholarly achievements during his long career. He was also selected by the American Accounting Association as the Outstanding Educator in the Southeast Region, and by the Emerald Literati Network for an outstanding book published in 2010 titled Gerhard G. Mueller: Father of International Accounting Education. In 2012, he was honored by the Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Section of the American Accounting Association with that organization’s Hall of Honor Award.
One of his books and many articles have been translated into Chinese by a publisher in the People’s Republic of China. He previously served on an AICPA task force that drafted a Statement of Position. In 1996, he served on an AICPA task force coordinating the centennial celebration of the CPA examination. As part of the CPA centennial celebration, he co-produced and scripted an award-winning video on the history of the CPA in America. He was the convener and program director for the 2004 World Congress of Accounting Historians. He has served on the board of directors of the AICPA Foundation and on the AICPA Council. He served as program co-chairman for the 2008 American Accounting Association annual meeting in Anaheim. He is serving on the advisory committee for the celebration of the AICPA’s 125th anniversary. He is serving as vice president of finance for the American Accounting Association (2011-2014).
Flesher served as treasurer of the Oxford-University United Methodist Church in Oxford from 1985 to 2004. He also serves as treasurer of the university’s chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi honorary. He served nine years (1992-1997, 1998-2002) on the school board of Oxford-University School, a local private school. Besides his 45 years’ teaching experience, Flesher had short stints with Arthur Andersen & Co. in New Orleans, a local CPA firm in Muncie, Ind., and Anaconda Corp. in Marion, Ind. His hobbies include playing basketball, tennis and softball, and collecting antique stock certificates (scripophily). His wife, Tonya, also an Ole Miss accountancy professor, was the MSCPA’s Outstanding Educator in 1995. They have a 30-year-old son, Flyn, and a 19-year-old daughter, Felicity.
Tonya K. Flesher, Ph.D., Professor
302 Conner
662-915-5731
Tonya K. Flesher is the Arthur Andersen Professor of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. In 2003, she was presented with the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award, the universitywide teaching award. She was selected as the 1995 Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Mississippi Society of CPAs. Flesher served as dean of the School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi from 1987 to 1993. She was the first woman to hold an academic deanship in the 150-year history of the university. In addition to her faculty duties, she also serves as the director of the Tax History Research Center, which is jointly sponsored by the university and the Academy of Accounting Historians. She is a CPA. Her bachelor’s degree is from Ball State University, her master’s from Appalachian State University and her Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Mississippi. She has authored eight books and nearly 100 articles. Before she became dean, she was the editor of the most widely used tax textbook in the country. Currently, Flesher is a contributing author to Concepts in Federal Taxation. She has published in such journals as the Journal of Accountancy, The Accounting Review, The CPA Journal, Advances in Taxation, Taxation for Accountants, The Tax Adviser, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting and Business Research, TAXES — The Tax Magazine and Management Accounting.
Flesher is an active member of several professional organizations including the American Institute of CPAs, the American Accounting Association, the American Taxation Association, the Mississippi Society of CPAs and the Academy of Accounting Historians, the latter organization of which she served as international president in 1993. Tonya previously had a regular column titled “Computers in Tax,” which appeared quarterly in The Tax Adviser. She has served as the Education Department editor of The Woman CPA. She has been a reviewer for the Accounting Historians Journal and the Journal of the American Taxation Association. Flesher was a member of the AICPA Minority Initiatives Committee. She currently serves on the AICPA Regulations Committee and the Content Committee, which are responsible for the CPA examination.
In previous years, she has won both the School of Accountancy’s Outstanding Teacher Award and the Outstanding Researcher Award. She was the 1986 recipient of the University of Mississippi’s Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award as an outstanding faculty member campuswide. In 2003, she was a H.E.A.D.W.A.E. Outstanding Faculty honoree in the state of Mississippi.
Howard Lawrence, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Accountancy
662-393-1616
Howard Lawrence, CPA, CMA, is a clinical professor of accountancy. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi, an MBA from Memphis State University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Christian Brothers College. Lawrence has worked in the steel industry as a plant engineer and the paper industry as a design engineer. He has held a number of administrative positions including vice president for academic affairs at the State Technical Institute at Memphis and president of the Nashville State Technical Institute. He comes to the Patterson School from Christian Brothers where he was professor of accounting.
Suzanne McCaffrey, Instructor
306 Conner
662-915-5999
Suzanne McCaffrey attended the University of Maryland and received a Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting. That spring, she started work with Arthur Young & Co. in Washington, D.C., which later merged with Ernst & Whinney. After working three years in the public arena, she moved to Mississippi in order for her new husband to attend graduate school. During these years, she worked at the University of Mississippi doing internal audit work, departmental accounting, contract & grant accounting, and a campus wide re-engineering project. In addition, during this time she attended graduate school herself and received her Master of Accountancy. Her husband eventually received his degree and accepted a faculty position on campus.
After working one year off campus, she accepted an instructor position in the School of Accountancy to begin teaching fall 2000. She has taught every spring and fall semester since. In 2002, Suzanne began advising Beta Alpha Psi, the School of Accountancy’s honorary student group, helping the group achieve Distinguished Status in 2008. In summer 2008, she began a three-year tenure as chapter advocate for the Southeast region on the Beta Alpha Psi board of directors. McCaffrey still stays involved with Beta Alpha Psi by helping with the annual meetings. She finds teaching rewarding and enjoys being around all different types of students.
Duffy A. Morf, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
312 Conner
662-915-5266
Duffy A. Morf is an assistant professor in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. He teaches a variety of accounting courses at the Tupelo and Southaven campuses. Morf earned his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University, an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. He is a CPA in the state of Illinois. Morf has had an active role in industry for more than 25 years. Starting his business career with Ernst & Young in Chicago, he then served as a controller, treasurer, chief financial officer and president of various companies located in Chicago, San Francisco and Denver. Morf has published an article about ethics officers in the Journal of Business Ethics and articles in the Tennessee CPA Journal and the OSCPA Wire.
Prior to joining the Ole Miss faculty in 2000, Morf spent a year on the faculty of Lander University in South Carolina.
He is a member of the American Accounting Association, Academy of Accounting Historians and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Dave L. Nichols, Ph.D., Associate Professor
104B Conner
662-915-5237
Dave L. Nichols is an associate professor in the E.H. Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. He earned his Ph.D. in accounting at Oklahoma State University. His research interests include, in addition to Title VII employment issues, accounting certification issues and the usefulness of geographic segment reporting. Professor Nichols’ articles have appeared in or have been accepted in the Southern Law Journal, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Industrial Management, International Financial Management Journal, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, Human Resource Planning, Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal, Journal of Individual Employment Rights, and the Journal of Contemporary Business Issues.
Rachna Prakash, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
312 Conner
662-915-5757
Rachna Prakash is an assistant professor on the faculty at the Patterson School of Accountancy. She received her Ph.D. from Goizueta Business School, Emory University, in 2007. Prior to that, she earned her M.. in accounting from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MBA from the University of Rochester. She is also a Chartered Accountant from India.
Prakash’ research examines capital market impact of firms’ disclosure choices and accounting policy. Her research has been published in The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research and Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. Her recent research on carbon emissions has been widely cited in the business press and referred to by investment banks. In addition to being a regular speaker at major accounting conferences, she has a track record of invited presentations of her research work at the SEC, the PCAOB and at POMS (Operation Management meeting).
Prakash has teaching experience at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Previously, she served on the faculty at the Mason School of Business in the College of William and Mary and visiting faculty at Georgetown University, among others. In 2010, she was nominated for the Ernst & Young Inclusive Excellence Award for teaching. In addition to her academic experience, she has extensive international corporate experience having worked for KPMG in Delhi, Citibank in Mumbai and Salomon Smith Barney in New York.
William R. Rhodes, Clinical Assistant Professor
204A Conner
662-915-5449
William Rhodes received his B.S. in mathematics with a minor in English from Delta State University in 1974. He received an MBA degree with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1976 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Mississippi in 1982.
He is a member of the Oxford Kiwanis Club, Oxford-University United Methodist Church, Mississippi State Bar, AICPA, Northeast Chapter of the Mississippi Society of CPAs and the Mississippi Society of CPAs.
J Riley Shaw, Ph.D., Associate Professor
204D Conner
662-915-5446
J Shaw earned his Ph.D. in accounting from Oklahoma State University in July 2002. His primary research interests are in the areas of capital markets and financial reporting. He is also interested in tax issues and specifically the tax aspects of aircraft ownership. He has articles published in Advances in Taxation, the Journal of Legal Tax Research, Journal of International Accounting Research, Taxes-The Tax Magazine, Managerial Finance and International Journal of Accounting Literature. Shaw was selected as the Outstanding Researcher in the Patterson School of Accountancy for 2004-05.
Shaw has taught nine courses at the University of Mississippi. He has taught Principles of Accounting I and II, Intermediate Accounting I and II, Federal Income Taxes I and II, Governmental Accounting and a Ph.D. seminar in Financial Accounting and Capital Markets. He has also taught a study abroad course in London since 2008. He was selected by accountancy students as the Patterson School of Accountancy Outstanding Teacher for the academic years 2005-06 and 2009-10.
Shaw is the faculty Adviser for Beta Alpha Psi and the Deloitte Tax Case Competition Team. He serves on the university’s Undergraduate Council and has previously served on Faculty Senate. He has served on a universitywide Quality Enhancement Plan development committee. He is the former editor of the newsletter for the Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Section of the American Accounting Association and is also the former chair of the Committee on Teaching and Curriculum for the International Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association. He has presented topics covering the tax aspects of aircraft ownership at the Patterson School of Accountancy’s Accountancy Weekend and the Mississippi Tax Institute.
Prior to his doctoral program, Shaw was manager of federal income taxes in the Tax Department of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., located in Bentonville, Ark., and he began his accounting career in the Tax Department of the Tulsa office of Arthur Andersen & Co. Shaw holds a B.S. in business administration and an M.S. in accounting, both from Oklahoma State University.
Morris H. Stocks, Ph.D., Provost and Professor
137 Lyceum
662-915-1198
Morris H. Stocks received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Trevecca Nazarene University, his master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Stocks has been at the University of Mississippi since 1991 and teaches financial accounting. He also serves as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. He is the 1998 recipient of the university’s most prized teaching honor, the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award. Stocks has published in many of his profession’s top journals, including Accounting, Organizations and Society; Accounting Horizons; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Decision Sciences; Advances in Accounting; Issues in Accounting Education; Advances in Accounting Information Systems; Advances in Behavioral Accounting Research; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal and Advances in Taxation. He has also published in several professional journals, including the Journal of Accountancy, Today’s CPA, The Ohio CPA and Management Accounting Quarterly. He is a member of the American Accounting Association, American Institute of CPAs, Decision Sciences Institute as well as several academic honorary societies.
Karl J. Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor
304 Conner
662-915-3980
Karl Wang received his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of South Carolina in 2003. His education also includes a B.A. and an M.A. from Fudan University and an MACC from USC. He was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy and spent three years working in public accounting (auditing) before switching back to being an academic in the latter field.
His research covers auditing and accounting regulation, focusing on behavioral and cross-cultural issues in accounting and business communication. He is particularly interested in philosophical and epistemological issues in accounting and auditing. His empirical research uses experimental economics and other experimental and nonexperimental methods. He has published in leading academic journals such as Philosophical Trends, Accounting, Organizations and Society, and Behavioral Research in Accounting. He has taught courses in accounting, auditing, philosophy and logic.
Wang loves classical music, reading and traveling around the world.
He is a CPA registered in the state of South Carolina.
Mitchell R. Wenger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
318 Conner
662-259-0097
Mitch Wenger is an assistant professor in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. He earned his B.S. in accountancy from the University of Illinois, his MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington and his Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Wenger is a CPA in the state of Texas and brings 20-plus years of practice and industry experience to the classroom. He was a manager with Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting in Dallas and Charlotte before managing enterprise software projects in the retail industry and managing the logistics practice at a startup consulting firm. Later, he managed a services practice, advised on potential acquisitions and developed new product prototypes for Hyperion Solutions (now part of Oracle Corp.).
Wenger’s primary research interests are in the area of accounting systems: their impact on relationships within organizations and the ways in which they facilitate changes in internal measures of success. He is an active member of the American Accounting Association, AICPA and Association for Information Systems.
Robert L. Bradford, Network Administrator
Heather Chance, Administrative Coordinator
Hillary Goulding, Assistant to the Dean
200C Conner
662-915-5009
Hillary Goulding is assistant to the dean in the Patterson School of Accountancy. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in art history from the University of Mississippi. She is a native of Jackson, Miss., where she graduated from St. Andrews Episcopal School. She currently lives on a small farm outside Oxford with her husband, Tim, and son, Aidan. In her spare time, she enjoys supporting Ole Miss, attending her son’s athletics events and riding her horses.
Jen McMillan, Assistant to Dean for Development
The Carriage House
662-915-1993
662-915-1759 (Fax)
Elisabeth Mills, Senior Administrative Secretary
Heather Staggs, Senior Clerk Typist
Diane Tredway, Academic Counselor
Andy Almand
Conner 317
662-915-3982
Andrew D. Almand, CPA, is a doctoral student in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and Master of Business Administration from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. After graduating with his MBA, he became a CPA in the state of Arkansas and practiced at a local accounting firm in Hot Springs, Ark., for five years, where he performed audits, other attestation engagements and tax services. Immediately prior to arriving at Ole Miss, Almand was a full-time instructor of various accounting courses at his alma mater, Henderson State. Almand and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Oxford with their two young children, Madilyn and Micah.
Andy Almand’s Curriculum VITAE
Dereck D. Barr
101 Conner
662-915-5754
Dereck D. Barr, CPA (Tennessee – inactive), CIA, joined the Ph.D. program in the Patterson School of Accountancy in 2009. Prior to his doctoral studies, Barr received both Bachelor and Master of Accountancy degrees from the Ole Miss School of Accountancy in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He then spent six years in internal audit positions at the FedEx World Headquarters following a brief stint with Vitro America; both companies are domiciled in Memphis, Tenn. His most significant auditing experience was spent leading complex entity audits for the international audit groups.
Barr’s primary teaching and research interests are in the field of auditing. He is most interested in factors that affect auditor (internal and external) judgments and the strategic interactions between auditors and managers. Currently, he is working on projects that individually examine the effect of continuous auditing on internal auditor judgments, how multi-account audit settings affect the auditor’s ability to anticipate and respond to the manager’s possible tendencies toward financial misreporting and the effect of professional skepticism on auditor decision making.
Sara Gochnauer
318 Conner
662-915-5688
Sara Gochnauer, CPA, is a doctoral student in the Patterson School of Accountancy. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Rhodes College in 2010 and her Master of Accountancy degree also from Rhodes in 2011. After graduating, Sara remained in Memphis to begin her career in the assurance division at Ernst & Young, LLP, primarily working with clients in the airline industry. She is a licensed CPA in the state of Tennessee. Her research interests are in the field of behavioral accounting. Sara currently teaches a Principles of Accounting course to undergraduates at the University of Mississippi.
Brian Goodson
317 Conner
662-915-3982
Brian Goodson is a fourth-year doctoral student at the University of Mississippi, Patterson School of Accountancy, and is a certified public accountant in the state of Alabama. Goodson’s research focuses on the audit profession’s role in the financial reporting environment. His current research addresses issues involving how information provided to external users of financial statements is influenced by factors such as auditors’ liability exposure, professional skepticism, and the strategic interactions between auditors and management.
Prior to entering the Ph.D. program at the University of Mississippi, Brian worked in assurance and advisory services for Ernst & Young, LLP, primarily serving clients within the financial services industry.
Chevonne Herring
317 Conner
662-915-3982
Chevonne Herring (CPA-IL, CFE) is a first-year doctoral student in the Patterson School of Accountancy. Upon graduation from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University’s 5-year MBA program, Herring worked for the university as an accounting coordinator. She returned home to Chicago, Ill., to join PricewaterhouseCoopers advisory practice. She worked in the Financial Services group, consulting primarily in system transitions, AML compliance and bankruptcy engagements.
Herring worked with nonprofit and governmental clients as a senior auditor at Odell Hicks & Co. LLC. She also taught at Governor’s State University as an adjunct accounting professor and worked there as a research associate.
Sydnee Manley
101 Conner
662-915-5754
Sydnee Manley is a Certified Public Accountant who holds an accounting undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas as well as an MBA from Georgia State University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in accounting at the Patterson School of Accountancy.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Manley taught Principles of Accounting I and II at the University of Central Arkansas while working as a quality analyst at Alltel Wireless. She worked as a senior financial analyst at Bank of America as well as a senior analyst for Arthur Andersen’s BPO-Dotcom operation. During the beginning of her career, she worked as an auditor for the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit and has more than 15 years of governmental audit and corporate financial analysis experience.
Chris Miller
317 Conner
662-915-3982
Christopher A. Miller joined the Ph.D. program in the Patterson School of Accountancy in 2012. Prior to his doctoral studies, Chris attended the United States Naval Academy where he majored in weapons & systems engineering. Miller earned his Bachelor of Science in finance and MBA from the University of Florida in 1997 and 2002, respectively. Miller has a graduate degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Master of Science in accounting from Texas A&M. He has gained knowledge and experience in investments and financial analysis by working for investment banks and casino/resort companies. Some of his entrepreneurial endeavors have included real estate, mortgages and Forex.
Miller’s teaching experience is extensive on both graduate and undergraduate levels, but he is now diverting his energies toward research. His academic interests include both archival and behavioral research in various financial accounting topics. In his spare time, he enjoys weightlifting, reading, traveling and scuba diving.
Ryan Seay
317 Conner
662-915-5754
Ryan Seay, CPA (inactive), is currently a doctoral student in the Patterson School of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi. Immediately prior to enrolling at Ole Miss, Ryan worked for a large dialysis company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. He also spent three years in an audit role with Ernst & Young, LLP in its Nashville office. Seay holds a Bachelor of Arts in business and a Master of Professional Accountancy from Murray State University in Murray, Ky.
Seay’s primary research interests are in the field of auditing, specifically the auditor’s response to managerial efficiency. He is also interested in accounting issues faced by health care organizations and the implications for the audit process. His teaching interests include auditing, cost/managerial and accounting information systems.
Seay and his wife, Susan, live in Oxford and have one son, Cooper.
Kelly L. Williams
101 Conner
662-915-5754
Kelly L. Williams, CPA, is a Ph.D. student in the Patterson School of Accountancy, pursuing a minor in management information systems. She holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in accounting from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn.
Prior to pursuing her doctoral degree, Williams worked in public accounting, specializing in automobile dealerships, and in private accounting, specializing in risk and insurance. She has held instructor and lead instructor positions for Becker Professional Education. She was awarded the Graduate Achievement Award for Ph.D. Program in Accountancy in 2011. Her research interest is XBRL.
L. Tyler Williams
317 Conner
662-915-3982
Tyler Williams is a third-year doctoral student in the Patterson School of Accountancy. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi. Thereafter, he began his career in the assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas, Texas. While at PwC, Tyler worked primarily with investment management and private equity clients. After serving as a fund analyst in the Private Equity Fund Services Group at JPMorgan Co., Williams was named director of internal audit at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Ga. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Texas.
