2025 Winter Newsletter

Dear Miami Accountancy Alumni and Friends,

This winter has been rough—since December, our temps have bounced up and down between -3° and 69°, not to mention the snow and ice! Despite that, our hallways are bursting with students with smiles on their faces and faculty who are happy to be spending time with them in classes, student org events, and office hours.

Part of the “bursting” is due to the incredible efforts that Accountancy faculty and staff have made to shout from the rooftops all the great things about the profession. Thanks to their energy, current enrollment in our major is up 45% from the 2021–2022 level (might not melt the snow, but it sure melts my heart)!

Because of that, we’ve shifted some focus to faculty hiring. We’re lucky to have a terrific new faculty member joining us this fall (you’ll read more about him when he comes on board); we started a search for another new faculty member; and next up is searching for visiting faculty to teach some classes.

We’re also hard at work considering how we’ll adapt our programs to the State of Ohio’s new pathways to a CPA. Ohio was the first mover, Virginia was not far behind, and legislation is on deck in numerous other states. As our future students weigh their options, I’m confident our portfolio of programs, including our 3+1 Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s program, will continue to set us apart.

Even with these bright spots, the winter has also been rough because every day we mourn the loss of Professor Eric Marinich; I know that will be with us for many seasons to come. The outpouring of support from so many of you has helped us, and more importantly Eric’s family, more than you know.

I’m also grateful to many who helped get us through this time, including Dan Heitger, who saw Eric’s winter term course through to the end; Dale Stoel, who stepped up to teach Eric’s large-section Introduction to Managerial Accounting classes; Brenda Homan, formerly a member of Accountancy and now in Entrepreneurship, who is teaching Eric’s upper-level Managerial Accounting class; Ron Collins, who came out of retirement to teach smaller sections of Introduction to Managerial Accounting; Sara Potter, who’s provided support to the faculty and graduate assistants who had to flex in a very short time; and Melissa Thomasson and Jess Bathe in the FSB Dean’s Office, who made themselves available 24/7.

Spring is not far away, and the sun will come up tomorrow—thanks in no small part to all of you.

Dr. Anne (Annie) Farrell
Chair and PwC Professor of Accountancy

Introducing Sara Potter, our Deloitte Introductory Accountancy Course Coordinator

Sara Potter ’99 is our Deloitte Introductory Accountancy Course Coordinator. Sara assists faculty in managing the Canvas course sites, graduate assistants, and communication with students in the ACC 221 and 222 classes.

Welcome Back, Katie Tew!

This Fall, the Department of Accountancy welcomed back Katie Tew (’93, ’99 MAcc) to teach ACC 221, Introduction to Financial Accounting, ushering in hundreds of Farmer Business School students each semester in the first steps of their business education.

Photo of a group of students standing in front of a white building with large columns

Students Visited New York and DC during 2024 Winter Term Trip

Over the Winter Term, students in Accounting 490D/590D, Accounting and Tax Policy, had the opportunity to visit New York City and Washington DC, led by Professor Tim Eaton. There were 20 students on the trip, ranging from sophomores to graduate students.

Two Accountancy Alumni Recognized at the Love and Honor Awards Ceremony

Kyle Templeman ’14 (MAcc ’15) was recognized as the Young Philanthropist of the Year, and the Spirit of Philanthropy Award was given to Tim Pistell ’69 and his wife Lynn ’70 (math and elementary education).

Accountancy Advisory Group Welcomed New Members

The Accountancy Advisory Group (AAG) met on September 26–27 to continue working on ways to strengthen the Department of Accountancy in several areas. During this meeting, the group welcomed new members Matt Bratton, VP of internal audit at Victoria’s Secret, and Megan Staley, director of client service at Kaiser Consulting.

We are pleased to also welcome Daniel Perschke, Senior Vice President & Controller at The E.W. Scripps Company, and Laura Hay, newly appointed as President and CEO of The Ohio Society of CPAs, to the advisory group. We look forward to the next AAG meeting in April!

Our faculty’s service and expertise are well recognized:

Yibo (James) Zhang received the American Accounting Association – Accounting Information Systems Section Outstanding Service Award for his service as a reviewer at Journal of Information Systems.
Michele Frank was quoted in a recent MarketWatch article about the costs of making a statement by not paying taxes.
A Forbes article discussed Mark Ross and James Zhang’s study on ChatGPT and accounting.
Jonathan Pyzoha and colleagues published several PCAOB comment letters regarding its proposed changes for standards on firm reporting, a company’s noncompliance with laws and regulations, and designing and performing substantive analytical procedures.

Congratulations to our alumni on their new appointments!

Stuart Frankel ’87 joined the Business Advisory Council at the Farmer School of Business.
Laura Hay ’88 was named president and CEO of the Ohio Society of CPAs.
Tamara Izzo ’91 was named director of The Risk Institute at The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business.
Jen Kemp ’07 (MAcc ’08) was named CFO of Clearcover.
Brad Kessel ’87 was recognized as one of the 200 most influential leaders in West Michigan for 2024.
Maureen Westrick ’05 was named executive vice president and CFO of AAA Club Alliance.

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