How did you become interested in your subject area?
I like jazz music, and management accounting is like jazz—you do what you do because it works! In comparison, compliance accounting is about following the rules, and I always had trouble with that.

What’s your mission in academia?
To make a difference in the lives of my students, in the content of my discipline and (in general) give back more than I take.

What is your job description?
Fundamentally, my job is to teach and train accountants to be the best business professionals possible. Aside from that, I am in the business of promoting the multifaceted goals of NIU.

What kinds of things do your graduates do?
They become business professionals, don’t settle for things at face value, right the wrongs that sometimes are proliferated in accountancy practice, become wonderful contributing individuals and fight for truth, justice and the American way.

What do students learn from you?
Some basic tenets:

1. The cost/benefit tradeoff is the most pervasive principle in life.
2. You can make something as simple as it is, but you can’t make it simpler.
3. Whenever you allocate you are always going to be somewhat arbitrary.
4. Question everything and everybody regardless of origin or reputation.

What is your favorite aspect of your job?
Seeing my students get excited about finding out something they didn’t know.

What’s your current research?
My most important research task is trying to rebalance the profession so that providing management accounting decision support is recognized to be as important as it really is.

Why did you choose your first college/university?
They let me in!

What’s a good book you recently read?
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis

Where do you go in DeKalb for a good meal?
Egg Haven—breakfast is my favorite meal. Papa Murphy’s Pizza is another favorite.

Why should students come to NIU?
We have one of the best accountancy programs in the nation, yet we provide a much greater emphasis on the profession than most of the top-ranked schools.

What’s your best advice to students who want to succeed?
Work hard. There is no substitute for effort.

What most pleases you about society today? What most concerns you?
We are fortunate to be able to enjoy more prosperity than ever before in history. We have developed an attitude of entitlement because we have more prosperity than ever before in history.

If you weren’t teaching, what would you be doing?
If I had time, I would like to be a writer.

What would your tombstone read?
“He did the best he could with what he had to work with.”

Photos by Jim Womack, NIU Media Services

Department: Accountancy

Hometown: Missouri

My degrees: Ph.D. in accounting, University of Texas at Arlington; MBA in finance, Pittsburg State; bachelor's degree in accounting, Missouri State University

Arrived at NIU: 2001

I teach: Management accounting courses at junior, senior, and MBA levels