A. RASHAD ABDEL-KHALIK
Professor of Accountancy

A. Rashad Abdel-khalik is Professor of Accountancy, Director of the V. K Zimmerman Center for International Accounting Education and Research, and Director of the Ph. D. Program in Accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has taught at Columbia University, Duke University and the University of Florida, and held visiting appointments at other universities in Canada, Australia, Singapore and USA. Rashad has published articles in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Research in Accounting, Decision Sciences, Organization Studies and the European Accounting Review and has authored and co-authored research studies published by the AAA and the FASB. He served as editor and managing editor of the Journal of Accounting Literature (1982 -1989), The Accounting Review (1990-1994) and the International Journal of Accounting (2000 to present) and has served on several editorial boards of other journals. He presented research workshops at numerous universities in North America and abroad.

Education

• Cairo University, B. Com.
• Indiana University, M.A. and M.B.A.
• University of Illinois, Ph.D.
  

CLIFTON BROWN
Professor of Accountancy

Clifton Brown, H.T. Scovill Professor of Accountancy and associate head of the department, has previously been a Weldon Powell Memorial Faculty Fellow and an Arthur Young Faculty Fellow, and a KPMG Peat Marwick Faculty Fellow at Illinois. He has been listed on the University of Illinois Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers on a number of occasions.

He has published in such journals as Accounting Organizations and Society, Decision Sciences, Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory and Contemporary Accounting Research. He has served as associate editor of Issues in Accounting Education (1992-95), as well as serving various other positions and tasks for the American Accounting Association and its Midwest section.

Education

• University of South Florida, B.A.
• University of Florida, Ph.D.
  

JOHN CHANDLER
Associate Professor of Accountancy

John Chandler joined the Illinois faculty in 1978. He is the current Director of the MAS program. He served as the Director of the Office of Information Management from 1987-1993. His teaching interests focus on accounting and management control. Professor Chandler has published in the area of information technology in such journals as the Journal of Expert Systems, Organizational Behavior And Human Decision Processes, Contemporary Accounting Research, Decision Sciences, and Management International Review. In 1991 he was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for research on "Computer-mediated Collective Induction." He was also the recipient of a Weldon Powell Achievement Fellowship in 1996.

Education

• College of Williiam and Mary, B.A.
• Ohio State University, Ph.D.
  

J. Fred Giertz
Professor of Economics

J. Fred Giertz is a professor of economics and member of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He has held this position since 1980.

Professor Giertz's major research interests are in the areas of public finance, public choice, and regional economic development.  He specializes in state and local taxation and expenditure analysis and in regional economic development issues. He has consulted with a variety of different governments, firms, and other organizations on tax and economic development issues. 

Professor Giertz follows general macroeconomic issues, especially as they impact Illinois. He also writes frequently on Illinois budget issues in publications such as State Tax Notes and compiles the U of I Flash Index, a monthly indicator of the Illinois economy. He is also a columnist for State Tax Notes.

In 1995, Professor Giertz was appointed a member of the board of trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS). He now chairs the board's investment committee.  The board oversees the $13.0 billion retirement fund for Illinois public university and college employees. In 2000, he was named the Executive Director of the National Tax Association, a 1,600 member organization of tax professionals located in Washington, D. C.

Education

• Wichita University, B.A.
• Northwestern University, M.A., Ph.D.
  

LEE HARKLEROAD, CPA
Partner, Ernst & Young

Lee Harkleroad has worked at E&Y in their Dayton Ohio, Detroit Michigan, and Chicago Illinois offices since 1980. Before that he worked for four years at Firestone Tire & Rubber Company.

Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and the Pension Real Estate Association.

Education

• University of Tennessee (Knoxville), B.S.
• Wright State University, M.B.A.
• University of Cincinnati, M.S. Tax
• CPA 1981, Ohio; 1992, Michigan; 1996, Illinois
  

TOM C. OMER
Professor, Accountancy at Texas A&M

Thomas C. Omer is a Professor of Accounting at Texas A&M University. Professor Omer teaches introductory and advanced tax classes in the undergraduate and graduate programs. For the last four years, he has worked on the AICPA tax simulation task force creating simulations for the Regulation section of the new computerized CPA exam. Professor Omer's current research interests include issues related to capital and organizational structure choice, factors influencing audit and non-audit fees, and earnings quality. He has published articles in journals such as the Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance, Journal of the American Taxation Association, and National Tax Journal. The Financial Executives Research Foundation selected his article with James and Linda Myers of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the best Accounting Review article for 2003. Professor Omer is currently President (Elect) of the American Taxation Association.

Education

• Kearney State College, B.S.
• University of Iowa, Ph.D.
  

THEODORE SOUGIANNIS
Associate Professor of Accountancy

Theodore Sougiannis is an associate professor of accounting. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley; an MA in economics and an MBA in finance from York University, Ontario, Canada; and an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Piraeus, Greece. He worked as an accountant at Texaco Athens. He has been at the University of Illinois since 1990. His research interests are in financial accounting; and he focuses on the use of accounting numbers in stock market valuations, the choice of financial accounting rules, and accounting regulation. He has published articles in leading accounting and finance journals. His teaching interests are in intermediate and advanced financial accounting and financial statement analysis.

Education

• University of Pireaus, B.B.A.
• York University, M.A. and M.B.A.
• University of California at Berkeley, Ph.D.
  

BRIAN T. WHITLOCK CPA, JD, LLM
Partner, Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP

Brian T. Whitlock is the partner-in-charge of Wealth Transfer Services (WTS) in the certified public accounting firm of Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP.

In November of 1987, Brian joined Blackman Kallick as a Tax Manager and the Director of Estate Planning. He has been a Partner of Blackman Kallick since 1990. The WTS Group develops and implements wealth transfer strategies for high net worth individuals; prepares business valuations of operating entities and investment partnerships; and handles the tax administration of trusts and estates. Brian also develops strategies that allow closely held businesses to attract and retain key employees, as well as transfer such businesses to both key employees and family members. He is adept at tailoring estate tax deferral and wealth transfer strategies that fulfill the personal and non-tax objectives of our clients. In addition, Brian oversees the tax administration and compliance issues related to tax-exempt organizations, foundations, estates, and trusts.

Brian is the currently the Chairman of the Illinois CPA Society and has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the past seven years. He served as the Treasurer from June of 2001 to May of 2003.

Education

• Northwestern University, B.A.
• IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., L.L.M.
• Elmhurst College, M.S. Accountancy
  

RICHARD WILBERG, CPA
Overstreet Wilberg & Associates

Richard "Rick" Wilberg is a CPA and Member at Overstreet, Wilberg & Associates - Certified Public Accountants in Champaign, Illinois and Vice-President and Senior Plan Consultant for Benefit Planning Consultants, Inc. A faculty member for over 20 years, Rick has taught with the AICPA National Tax Institute and the College of Business at UIUC. He has been in practice as a certified public accountant for over 25 years and brings real world experience to the classroom.

Education

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.A., M.A.S, M.B.A.
  

Maggie is a senior tax manager in the federal income tax services group for the Midwest Practice of Deloitte & Touche ("Deloitte"). She has more than 10 years of experience in federal income tax consulting, including assisting clients with corporate, consolidated, and international tax compliance and planning issues in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries. Recently, Maggie has been the senior tax manager leading the Sarbanes Oxley Section 404 efforts for the Deloitte Tax Midwest region, including assisting clients with Section 404 readiness and testing for tax processes.

Education

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S.
• Masters of Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University