Comments from ABO Liaison to AAA Conference

This is a great year to be an ABO member - at the 2006 AAA Meeting in Washington D.C., we are celebrating ABO's 25th anniversary!

To commemorate this important milestone, Jake Birnberg (University of Pittsburg) will moderate a special research panel session "ABO Research - A 25 Year Perspective" focusing on significant research contributions by our members. The panelists, Joan Luft (Michigan State University), Mark Nelson (Cornell University), Brian Spilker (Brigham Young University) and Dan Stone (University of Kentucky), will discuss seminal works in managerial, audit, financial accounting, tax and information systems research. Be sure to mark your calendars for 4 pm Monday, August 7 for what promises to be one of the most discussed events at the AAA meeting.

Later that evening, join us at the ABO reception as we continue the celebration and toast to the next 25 years!

We round out the ABO program with 11 concurrent research sessions of three papers each and 23 research forum papers. In ABO tradition, the program (listed below) represents the diverse research interests of the membership. In July, look for an email providing times and locations of the ABO events at this year's AAA meeting.

As ABO liaison, I have had the opportunity to read dozens of papers crossing all disciplines and interact with hundreds of our members. I leave this experience energized and excited about the future of our section. For the second year in a row, submissions were up over 20% and the quality is outstanding. The entire ABO membership continues to be active - we had many more volunteers that we could accommodate as reviewers, discussants and moderators. Thanks to all of you that volunteered! This program and the ABO section would not be a success without your efforts.

When you are in D.C., be sure to thank Rich Houston – he agreed to serve as ABO liaison for the 2007 AAA Annual meeting in Chicago. We worked closely together planning this year's program and I am very appreciative of his help.

I look forward to seeing you in D.C. this August!

Raquel Meyer Alexander
University of Kansas