2010 Outstanding Educator Award

Presented by Audrey Gramling

The Outstanding Educator Award is given to recognize “exemplary contributions in research or teaching over a sustained period of time (10 to 15 years), as evidenced by publications, educational innovations, guidance to graduate and undergraduate students, or excellence in teaching.” As in prior years, the set of nominees was outstanding. I want to thank the other committee members Jane Mutchler, Larry Rittenberg, and Mark Taylor for their work in making this selection.

The selection committee selected Arnold Wright as the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Educator Award. Dr. Wright is Professor and Joseph M. Golemme Chair of Accounting in the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University.

Arnie Wright (left) and Audrey Gramling (right).

Arnie has been prolific over the last 30 years in publishing over 90 research papers in refereed journals. Many of these have been published in leading journals including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Organizations and Society and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Arnie looks for interesting and important research questions and then addresses them using rigorous research. He has a major focus on applied audit research with a view of educating the profession and auditing students. Arnie is also an outstanding mentor. Many of his research papers are co-authored with junior colleagues from both the USA and other parts of the world. He has spent a lot of time developing the research skills of these junior co-authors.

An important example of Arnie’s focus on educating students, academics, and the profession is his co-edited monograph with Tim Bell on ‘Auditing Practice, Research and Education: A Productive Collaboration’. This was a monograph co-sponsored by the AICPA and the Auditing Section of AAA. It received the AAA Auditing Section Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award and the Joint AICPA / AAA Collaboration Award.

An outstanding educator needs to lead by example – and Arnie’s career is certainly a great example of an outstanding educator. He has clearly met the criteria for the Auditing Section’s Outstanding Educator Award, and it is a pleasure to present the award to Arnie Wright.