Herita Akamah, associate professor of accountancy, ’07
I taught Seminar in Financial Accounting (ACCT 803) in the fall and Business Valuation & Financial Statement Analysis (ACCT 808) in the spring. My current research projects seek to provide insights into the costs and benefits of several accounting regulatory initiatives. I currently have two projects under revise and resubmit at top journals. I am polishing several articles to be submitted to elite journals by June 2024 after which I will make progress on newer projects. I was an invited speaker on a Panel Session at the 2023 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting. I was also invited to discuss a paper for a top journal conference in Liverpool, U.K. I serve on two editorial boards. One for our elite journal, The Accounting Review, and the other for a top journal, The International Journal of Accounting. I continue to serve on the board of Lincoln Literacy Center and Clinic with a Heart.

Arthur Allen, associate professor of accountancy
I taught Intermediate Accounting I (ACCT 313) and Advanced Accounting (ACCT 804). Both classes incorporate research into the FASB standards and writing reports. My current research interests include misleading tax reports in charitable organizations and factors influencing accounting fees in private foundations. I recently published in the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting, & Financial Management (2024) about the relationship between financially supported nonprofits and financial reporting. I published in the Journal of Accounting and Finance (2023) on the subject of information uncertainty during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Finally, I published a book chapter (2023) on the subject of private foundations.

Dirk Black
I enjoyed teaching Accounting and Data Analytics (ACCT 850) in the MPA Program and a Ph.D. seminar during the Fall 2023 semester. This academic year marked my first time teaching a Ph.D. seminar, and I enjoyed learning with the students. I had co-authored research accepted for publication this academic year in Contemporary Accounting Research and Advances in Accounting. I currently serve as an associate editor at the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance and Advances in Accounting. Moreover, I serve on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review, the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, and the Journal of Management Accounting Research. Finally, I am currently serving as the Chair of the American Accounting Association’s Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) Midyear Meeting Best Paper Award Committee.

Aaron Crabtree, associate dean of master's programs and executive development, KPMG Faculty Fellow in Professional Accounting and associate professor of accountancy
I am finishing up my third year as associate dean responsible for online graduate programs. I taught Federal Tax Accounting (ACCT 312) this past year. My recent research was published in the Global Finance Journal and examined the impact of stock overvaluation on the bond credit market. My current research is focusing on executive experience and corporate debt. I am excited to start my 20th year in Nebraska in the fall.

Debra Cosgrove, professor of practice in accountancy, ’88 & ’89
The 2023-24 year has been excellent, and I have loved teaching Accounting Information Systems (ACCT 309) for the past 22 years. For the first time post-Covid, I taught the Advanced Accounting Information Systems (ACCT 809) and had forgotten how fun it is to be with graduate students in a small class. Beginning fall 2024, I will teach Managerial Accounting (ACCT 308) and Accounting for Business Decisions (ACCT 200). Though sad to leave AIS, I am excited to try something new. Last year, the Audit Innovation Campus Challenge team was headed to Deloitte University to bring home a first place win and they did. Our team won among the 60 schools invited to participate from around the country. I am so proud of their hard work and outstanding performance. I am also the advisor for Beta Alpha Psi, and our chapter had a very large and enthusiastic candidate class this spring semester. One of our best practices competition teams won second place at the mid-year meeting in San Diego and will compete at our annual meeting in August in Orlando. The officer group was outstanding and brought a lot of energy to the group.

Stuart Dearden, assistant professor of accountancy
I have taught Auditing (ACCT 410) and the Seminar in Auditing (ACCT 831) at UNL since 2018. Before academia, I was promoted to audit manager for KPMG, auditing clients in a variety of industries, sizes, and regulatory environments. My research focuses on audit quality, auditor bias, and audit-office issues. I have several studies published in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Some of my current research examines how multi-office audit partners affect audit quality and how clients disassociate themselves from lowerquality audit offices.

Amanda Gonzales, associate professor of practice in accountancy, ’03
This year, I had the opportunity to teach students across the undergraduate curriculum: firstyear Nebraska Business Honors Academy students in Introductory Accounting I (ACCT 201H), sophomores and juniors in Intermediate Accounting I (ACCT 313), and seniors in Research and Communication in Accounting (ACCT 455). I enjoyed carefully tailoring each course for its audience and it was rewarding to be named a finalist for the CoB Excellence in Teaching Award. ACCT 455 was honored with the MidAmerican Business Deans Association Innovation in Business Education Award for Pedagogical or Curricular Innovations. I also received a CoB Teaching and Learning Center grant to implement generative AI techniques into ACCT 455. Finally, I worked with faculty and staff across the CoB to propose changes that will invigorate the CoB core curriculum to provide students with a personalized, distinctive educational experience aligned with real-world demands and foster a vibrant community within the CoB.

Ling Lin Harris, assistant professor of accountancy
In 2023, I was thrilled to teach Intermediate II (ACCT 314), because it was my first time teaching our accounting undergraduate students at UNL! Interacting with these students was a very rewarding experience. I have continued to work on research studies regarding individuals’ judgments and decisions and presented my papers at workshops and conferences. I also continue to provide my service to the university by serving on multiple committees for the School of Accountancy and the College of Business. In addition, I continue to engage in student research by serving as a dissertation committee member and a graduate research advisor, and conducting research with Ph.D. students. For professional outreach, I attended several research conferences and served as a reviewer for several research journals.

Steven Hegemann, associate professor of practice in accountancy, ’97 & ’99
I have been teaching Introductory Accounting I (ACCT 201) for the last few years. This is the first experience most students have with accounting. I leverage my experience — growing up in small town Nebraska, entering the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a non-traditional student after serving in the Army, completing my BSBA and MPA at Nebraska, and working as an auditor and forensic accounting consultant in New York City for over 15 years — to challenge students’ perceptions about what an accountant is and does.

Tony Kang, Deloitte Haskins and Sells Professor and Associate Professor of Accountancy
This past year, I taught two different courses, ACCT 808 Business Valuation and Financial Statement Analysis and GRBA 809 Financial Accounting, to MPA and MBA students. In addition, I participated in academic conferences in the U.S. and Europe. I am currently working on research projects on financial statement audits, XBRL reporting and earnings clawbacks.

Tom Kubick, Delmar A. Lienemann Sr. Presidential Chair and professor of accountancy, ’05, ’08 & ’11
During the past year, I taught Federal Tax Accounting (ACCT 312) to undergraduates and Corporate Tax Accounting (ACCT 413/813) to students in the Master of Professional Accountancy program. I serve as the PhD program director, and I am currently teaching a PhD seminar in empirical tax research (ACCT 969). I continue to research topics in the areas of financial accounting, incentives, governance, and taxation, and I have several papers that are progressing through the review process. During the past year, my papers have appeared or have been accepted for publication in The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Journal of Banking and Finance, and the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. I also coauthor an undergraduate tax textbook “Principles of Taxation for Business and Investment Planning,” and I serve on the editorial boards of Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, and Journal of International Accounting Research.

Kathryn Maresh, associate professor of practice in accountancy, ’85
I continue to enjoy teaching Federal Tax Accounting (ACC 312), Tax Research and Planning (ACCT 815), Partnership Tax (ACCT 819), and Ethics and Accounting (ACCT 407/807). In my classes, I connect course concepts to practical application through student research and return projects. It has been rewarding to hear students say that because of the class projects they are preparing their own tax returns this year. Outside of the classroom, I serve as the SoA Accounting Internship Director and the UNL representative on the Nebraska State Board of Public Accountancy Education Advisory Committee. The accounting internship program continues to grow, and I appreciate the valuable learning opportunities employers provide for our students through these internships. I am also the faculty advisor for the UNL Deloitte FanTAXtic competition team, and this year’s team won first place at the national competition. We are lucky to have such talented students in our accounting program!

Samuel Melessa, associate professor of accountancy
I am teaching Intermediate Accounting I (ACCT 313) to juniorlevel accounting and finance students. It has been a joy getting to know the 180 students I have in class, and this year I have worked to add to the course more content related to critical thinking in accounting. On the research front, several coauthors and I are working on a study evaluating and analyzing the definitions and uses of various cash flow constructs, e.g., operating cash flows. We demonstrate that seemingly minor adjustments to how cash flows are defined and measured can significantly alter the properties of cash flows. We also demonstrate that how one defines cash equivalents is critical to the measurement of investing and free cash flows. Our findings are timely given the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s current statement of cash flows project.

Jina Morris, associate professor of practice in accountancy and Master of Professional Accountancy coordinator, ’94 & ’98
The MPA program has its largest graduating class of 48 MPA students this Spring 2024. It is exciting to help them navigate the CPA exam process and our first offering of ACCT 996, the CPA Exam Review Course, was a success. It is great to see the students be able to complete most of their CPA exams before starting their next adventure into full-time employment. My days are filled with advising MPA students, teaching all the ACCT 202, managerial accounting students, helping with awarding scholarships to the MPA students due to the many generous donors to our School of Accountancy, and working with the students and employers of our graduate internship course, ACCT 890. This past year we had 43 students complete both public and private internships.

Todd Thornock, Raymond C. Dein Professor of Accountancy and associate professor of accountancy
I teach Managerial Accounting (ACCT 308) and the Controllership (ACCT 857) to the MPA students. The latter course is a new offering where we focus on practice and academic views of management control systems. I enjoy helping students discover meaningful connections between class and real life — accounting touches so many areas! This past year my research was published in the Behavioral Research in Accounting and Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory. I also published a practitioner article in Strategic Finance. My PhD student, Bret Sheeley, successfully defended his dissertation and is taking a tenure-track position at the University of Pittsburgh starting in the fall of 2024. My work with amazing colleagues on various additional projects continues to make excellent progress, including one project receiving a grant from the Institute of Management Accountants. Also, I continue to serve in a leadership role for the American Accounting Associate, leading committees evaluating our best research.

Jill Trucke, associate professor of practice in accountancy, ’99 & ’00
In addition to teaching a variety of accounting classes, I also spend time recruiting students to the accounting major. Because of my role, I see students advance from high school to college and then their career. It’s a joy to highlight the benefits of an accounting degree at the Discover Accounting PreCollege Program or other high school events hosted by the College of Business. It is even more rewarding as an instructor to see them grow in their accounting knowledge and professional skills while at UNL. A highlight of my week is when students stop by my office to say hello or to ask questions about graduate school, the CPA exam, or internships. Before long, they have graduated and I’m contacting them to come back to share their accounting journey with current students.

Biyu Wu, associate professor of accountancy
This past year, I taught Managerial Accounting (ACCT 308) and Introductory Accounting II (ACCT 202H, Honors). My current research focuses on firms’ financial reporting quality, the role of financial intermediaries (e.g., auditors, underwriters) in initial public offerings (IPO), and implications of regulatory oversight on financial intermediaries in the capital markets. In the past year, one of my articles was published at Review of Accounting Studies. I also have two articles that are currently under revise and resubmit at top-tier accounting and business journals. A reproducibility project that I collaborated on with other members was accepted for publication at Management Science. I attended the American Accounting Association mid-year meeting, PCAOB Conference on Auditing and Capital Markets, and Review of Accounting Studies Conference, among others. I also served as a reviewer for several journals and conferences.