Awards Presented at the
2002 Midyear Auditing Conference
Held in Orlando, Florida
2002 Distinguished
Service in Auditing Award
Presented by Abe Akresh, Vice President–Practice
The 2002 Distinguished Service in Auditing Award was
presented to Lynford Graham. This award recognizes exemplary service to the
Auditing profession or the Auditing Section and scholarly contributions to the
field of auditing. Criteria for the award are outstanding career achievements
over a 20–25 year period that have a lasting and significant impact on the
field of auditing, as evidenced by service to the Auditing profession, or the
Section or by significant contributions in scholarship. The recipient is
selected from among nominations from Section members a by a committee
consisting of Abe Akresh (VP–Practice, Chair), Fred Neumann, Tom Powell,
Bob Roussey, and Bob Sack. Dr. Graham has had a distinguished career in both
academia and public accounting, having served the profession, the Auditing
Section, and individual firms and universities. As the Director of Audit Policy
for BDO Seidman, LLP, he is responsible for the development and implementation
of audit policy and software, as well as Assurance Services Learning and
Education programs, and is the Firm’s Sampling Coordinator. Dr. Graham is
a member of the Auditing Standards Board, and previously chaired the
Educator-Practitioner Case Development Task Force for the annual AICPA
Education Conference. He has served on the Executive Committee of the
Pre-Certification Education Committee, and also served as a member of the
AICPA’s (SAS No. 47) Materiality and Audit Risk Task Force. Dr. Graham was
a founding member of the AICPA’s Information Technology Section, serving
on its Executive Committee, and was a member of the AICPA’s Statistical
Sampling Subcommittee during the development of SAS No. 39 on Audit Sampling.
He also chaired the AICPA’s Quantitative Methods Task Force researching
Analytical Procedures. His numerous academic and business publications include
information systems, audit risk, sampling, analytical procedures, audit
judgment and international accounting and auditing. He served as Vice
Chairman–Practice of the Auditing Section, and as a member of numerous
committees and task forces. He had a leadership role in the development of the
award-winning “Excellence in Audit Education” materials, widely used
in university audit courses. He is the past Auditing Section Chair for the
Mid-Atlantic Section of the AAA, is a member of the AAA’s Practice
Advisory Committee, and has served on the editorial boards of AUDITING: A
Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizons, Issues in Accounting
Education, and other publications. Dr. Graham holds a Ph.D. from the University
of Pennsylvania (Wharton School).
Outstanding
Dissertation Award
Presented by Mohammad J. Abdolmohammadi, Bentley College
The 2002 Outstanding Auditing Dissertation Award was
presented to Dr. Jeffrey Wilks of Brigham Young University. Dr. Robert Libby of
Cornell University was also recognized as the dissertation chair. The Auditing
Section began presenting this award on an annual basis to the author of the
outstanding dissertation in 1988, and added the outstanding dissertation chair
recognition in 1996. The criteria for the award are: the timeliness and
importance of the problem(s) addressed, the creativity of the research, the
development of an appropriate theoretical framework, the appropriateness of the
research method and analysis, the potential for publication in a scholarly
journal, and the potential for the results to have an impact on the practice of
auditing. The Section solicits nominations from the membership by July 1 of
each year and presents the award at the following Midyear Meeting. Seven
high-quality dissertations were nominated for the 2002 award and the recipient
was selected by a committee consisting of Mohammad Abdolmohammadi (Chair),
Richard Houston, Kathryn Kadous, and Rachel Schwartz. Dr. Wilks’
submission, titled “Predecisional Distortion of Evidence as a Consequence
of Real-Time Audit Review” ranked high in all criteria listed
above.
Notable
Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award
Presented by Robert Knechel, University of Florida
The 2002 Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature
award was presented to Mark S. Beasley for his paper “An Empirical
Analysis of the Relation between Board of Director Composition and Financial
Statement Fraud” published in the October 1996 issue of The Accounting
Review. Beasley reported the results of one of the first efforts to study
the effectiveness of Boards of Directors as part of the governance structure of
a corporation. He found that Boards with larger numbers of outside directors
were less likely to experience financial fraud, although the specific existence
of an audit committee did not affect the incidence of fraud. Furthermore, the
likelihood of fraud declines as the ownership interests and tenure of outside
directors increases. This paper led to a significant increase in research on
corporate governance, which is made even more relevant by recent events
affecting the auditing profession. The 2002 Notable Contribution to the
Auditing Literature Award Selection Committee was composed of W. Robert Knechel
(Chair), Timothy Fogarty, Jagan Krishnan, Thomas Noland, and Gary
Peters.
2002 Outstanding
Audit Educator Award
Presented by Ira Solomon, University of Illinois at
Urbana–Champaign
I am truly sorry that Stan Biggs is not able to be here
today to make this presentation in his capacity as committee chair. Stan very
much wanted to be here but his dad is gravely ill. On the other hand, I am
delighted that Stan asked me to make the presentation of the 2002 Outstanding
Audit Educator Award in his place. I will, however, depart from the traditional
path in making the presentation. I have known Cherry Cushing for over 25 years
(for those who are compelled to do the math—she and I met when we were 10
years old). She is an articulate, smart, creative, and dedicated woman and an
excellent tennis player. There is an old adage—behind every great man,
there is a great woman. Cherry Cushing is proof of the wisdom of that adage. As
a second-year doctoral student in 1977, I took a course on decision theory and
information economics. Assistant Professor Barry Cushing was the instructor. I
didn’t know it at the time, but that experience—taking that course
from Barry Cushing—would profoundly impact my career as an audit
educator/scholar. Barry had recently returned from a sabbatical at UCLA where
he sat in on courses taught by some of the pioneers in information economics.
He immediately recognized the applicability of the ideas to accounting and
auditing. Such applicability was not always obvious to others, but Barry made
it transparent. Consistently, the concepts were not easy, but Barry helped us
to penetrate them. Indeed whether it has been in a decision theory and
information economics doctoral seminar, or an auditing topics course, or in
information systems, or in comparing audit approaches, Barry Cushing has made a
career out of bringing clarity and transparency to what otherwise would be
rather opaque topics and issues. In doing so he has influenced in the most
positive way legions of undergraduate and graduate students of accounting and
auditing. The Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association is,
therefore, pleased to recognize Barry E. Cushing as the 2002 Outstanding Audit
Educator.
The 2002 Distinguished Service in Auditing Award was
presented to Lynford Graham. This award recognizes exemplary service to the
Auditing profession or the Auditing Section and scholarly contributions to the
field of auditing. Criteria for the award are outstanding career achievements
over a 20–25 year period that have a lasting and significant impact on the
field of auditing, as evidenced by service to the Auditing profession, or the
Section or by significant contributions in scholarship. The recipient is
selected from among nominations from Section members a by a committee
consisting of Abe Akresh (VP–Practice, Chair), Fred Neumann, Tom Powell,
Bob Roussey, and Bob Sack. Dr. Graham has had a distinguished career in both
academia and public accounting, having served the profession, the Auditing
Section, and individual firms and universities. As the Director of Audit Policy
for BDO Seidman, LLP, he is responsible for the development and implementation
of audit policy and software, as well as Assurance Services Learning and
Education programs, and is the Firm’s Sampling Coordinator. Dr. Graham is
a member of the Auditing Standards Board, and previously chaired the
Educator-Practitioner Case Development Task Force for the annual AICPA
Education Conference. He has served on the Executive Committee of the
Pre-Certification Education Committee, and also served as a member of the
AICPA’s (SAS No. 47) Materiality and Audit Risk Task Force. Dr. Graham was
a founding member of the AICPA’s Information Technology Section, serving
on its Executive Committee, and was a member of the AICPA’s Statistical
Sampling Subcommittee during the development of SAS No. 39 on Audit Sampling.
He also chaired the AICPA’s Quantitative Methods Task Force researching
Analytical Procedures. His numerous academic and business publications include
information systems, audit risk, sampling, analytical procedures, audit
judgment and international accounting and auditing. He served as Vice
Chairman–Practice of the Auditing Section, and as a member of numerous
committees and task forces. He had a leadership role in the development of the
award-winning “Excellence in Audit Education” materials, widely used
in university audit courses. He is the past Auditing Section Chair for the
Mid-Atlantic Section of the AAA, is a member of the AAA’s Practice
Advisory Committee, and has served on the editorial boards of AUDITING: A
Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizons, Issues in Accounting
Education, and other publications. Dr. Graham holds a Ph.D. from the University
of Pennsylvania (Wharton School).
The 2002 Outstanding Auditing Dissertation Award was
presented to Dr. Jeffrey Wilks of Brigham Young University. Dr. Robert Libby of
Cornell University was also recognized as the dissertation chair. The Auditing
Section began presenting this award on an annual basis to the author of the
outstanding dissertation in 1988, and added the outstanding dissertation chair
recognition in 1996. The criteria for the award are: the timeliness and
importance of the problem(s) addressed, the creativity of the research, the
development of an appropriate theoretical framework, the appropriateness of the
research method and analysis, the potential for publication in a scholarly
journal, and the potential for the results to have an impact on the practice of
auditing. The Section solicits nominations from the membership by July 1 of
each year and presents the award at the following Midyear Meeting. Seven
high-quality dissertations were nominated for the 2002 award and the recipient
was selected by a committee consisting of Mohammad Abdolmohammadi (Chair),
Richard Houston, Kathryn Kadous, and Rachel Schwartz. Dr. Wilks’
submission, titled “Predecisional Distortion of Evidence as a Consequence
of Real-Time Audit Review” ranked high in all criteria listed
above.
The 2002 Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature
award was presented to Mark S. Beasley for his paper “An Empirical
Analysis of the Relation between Board of Director Composition and Financial
Statement Fraud” published in the October 1996 issue of The Accounting
Review. Beasley reported the results of one of the first efforts to study
the effectiveness of Boards of Directors as part of the governance structure of
a corporation. He found that Boards with larger numbers of outside directors
were less likely to experience financial fraud, although the specific existence
of an audit committee did not affect the incidence of fraud. Furthermore, the
likelihood of fraud declines as the ownership interests and tenure of outside
directors increases. This paper led to a significant increase in research on
corporate governance, which is made even more relevant by recent events
affecting the auditing profession. The 2002 Notable Contribution to the
Auditing Literature Award Selection Committee was composed of W. Robert Knechel
(Chair), Timothy Fogarty, Jagan Krishnan, Thomas Noland, and Gary
Peters.
I am truly sorry that Stan Biggs is not able to be here
today to make this presentation in his capacity as committee chair. Stan very
much wanted to be here but his dad is gravely ill. On the other hand, I am
delighted that Stan asked me to make the presentation of the 2002 Outstanding
Audit Educator Award in his place. I will, however, depart from the traditional
path in making the presentation. I have known Cherry Cushing for over 25 years
(for those who are compelled to do the math—she and I met when we were 10
years old). She is an articulate, smart, creative, and dedicated woman and an
excellent tennis player. There is an old adage—behind every great man,
there is a great woman. Cherry Cushing is proof of the wisdom of that adage. As
a second-year doctoral student in 1977, I took a course on decision theory and
information economics. Assistant Professor Barry Cushing was the instructor. I
didn’t know it at the time, but that experience—taking that course
from Barry Cushing—would profoundly impact my career as an audit
educator/scholar. Barry had recently returned from a sabbatical at UCLA where
he sat in on courses taught by some of the pioneers in information economics.
He immediately recognized the applicability of the ideas to accounting and
auditing. Such applicability was not always obvious to others, but Barry made
it transparent. Consistently, the concepts were not easy, but Barry helped us
to penetrate them. Indeed whether it has been in a decision theory and
information economics doctoral seminar, or an auditing topics course, or in
information systems, or in comparing audit approaches, Barry Cushing has made a
career out of bringing clarity and transparency to what otherwise would be
rather opaque topics and issues. In doing so he has influenced in the most
positive way legions of undergraduate and graduate students of accounting and
auditing. The Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association is,
therefore, pleased to recognize Barry E. Cushing as the 2002 Outstanding Audit
Educator.