2003 ABO Notable Lifetime Contribution Award in Behavioral Accounting Research

Kenneth A. Merchant
Deloitte & Touche LLP Chair of Accountancy
Leventhal School of Accounting
University of Southern California

Ken Merchant is the holder of the Deloitte & Touche LLP Chair of Accountancy at the University of Southern California (USC). He is currently teaching in USC's Executive MBA program. At USC he has served as Senior Associate Dean-Corporate Programs (2003-2004) and Dean-Leventhal School of Accounting (1994-2001). Professor Merchant is also a research professor (part-time) at the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands). He previously taught at the Harvard Business School (1978-90) and the University of California (Berkeley) (1975-77).

Before becoming an academic, Professor Merchant was a department controller at Texas Instruments, Inc. and a senior consultant with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young). He has also worked as a freelance consultant/teacher for many organizations, including Amgen, Arco, AT&T, British Airways, Campbell Soup, Digital Equipment, IBM, McGraw-Hill, Novellus Systems, Philip Morris International, Tektronix, Toyota U.S.A., and World Bank. Currently he is serving on the boards of Diagnostic Products Corporation (NYSE:DP) and WL Homes LLC.

Professor Merchant's major teaching and research interests are in the areas of management accounting, management control systems, and corporate governance. Most of his current research projects are focused on various issues related to the design and effects of performance measurement/evaluation/incentive systems. Professor Merchant has published eight books, including Accounting: Text and Cases (2004), Management Control Systems: Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives (2003), Rewarding Results: Motivating Profit Center Managers (1989), and Fraudulent and Questionable Financial Reporting: A Corporate Perspective (1987), as well as numerous journal articles and teaching cases. Professor Merchant won the American Accounting Association (AAA) awards for Notable Contributions to the Behavioral Accounting Literature (2004) and the Management Accounting Literature (1991-92) as well as the Institute of Management Accountants' Lybrand Gold Medal Award (best paper of the year published in Management Accounting) for 1989-90. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of eight academic journals.

Professor Merchant has served as president of three AAA sections: Accounting Program Leadership Group, Management Accounting, and Accounting, Behavior and Organizations. He is a current member of the AAA Finance Committee and the Business and Industry Executive Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Professor Merchant is a graduate of Union College (BA), Columbia University (MBA), and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD) and is a Certified Public Accountant (Texas).