Gordon Peter Wilson (1946-2020)

Gordon Peter “Pete” Wilson held the Joseph L. Sweeney Chair of Accounting at Boston College. He was an exemplar of a master teacher and scholar who devoted his career to helping colleagues and members of the American Accounting Association become better accounting teachers and researchers. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University (1985). Before his appointment at Boston College in July 1997, he taught at Stanford University (1985-1989), Harvard University (1989-1994), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1994-1997).

First and foremost, Wilson was a master teacher who became a teacher-of-teachers, who inspired others to make a difference. His overarching goals were to help students and other educators develop robust conceptual frameworks to navigate complexity and uncertainty; build relationship skills that promote effective and rewarding interactions with others; and gain a passion for lifelong learning. The aim was a more prosperous society.

Evidence of students’ and colleagues’ respect for Wilson is provided by the many awards he earned: Distinguished Teaching Award (Stanford Business School, 1988); Teacher of the Year Award (MIT Sloan School of Management, 1995), the AAA Outstanding Educator Award (2005), Teaching with New Media Award (Boston College, 2009, 2010), AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award (2010), AAA Two-Year Section Life-Time Achievement in Accounting Education (2014), AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Innovation in Accounting Education Award, and the J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize (2016), the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher. When complimented on the many awards he had received, Wilson often responded that the students were largely responsible for the success of his classes. He described becoming a great teacher as a journey from me (the teacher) to we (the students and teacher). Many of his most popular and widely used educational materials were developed with his wife and collaborator Carolyn Ruth Wilson.

Wilson’s teaching philosophy and passion for student learning reached beyond the classroom. For example, he was the 2002-2003 President of the American Accounting Association, extending his influence to a national and global audience of accounting educators and professionals. This was amplified through his work on the Accounting Education Change Committee (1993-1996) and the Pathways Commission (2013).

Wilson’s lasting contributions to accounting research include seminal articles disentangling the differential contributions of earnings and cash flows to stock price reactions to a company’s annual report (e.g., “The Incremental Information Content of the Accrual and Funds Components of Earnings After Controlling for Earnings, The Accounting Review, April 1987) and showing the magnitude and timing of corporate decisions associated with major changes in tax regulation (e.g., “Tax Planning, Regulatory Capital, and Financial Reporting Strategy for Commercial Banks, Review of Financial Studies, 1990 with Myron Scholes and Mark Wolfson). He supervised the Ph.D. dissertation of six students. His influence was evidenced in his work as a member of faculty for sixteen AAA/Deloitte Foundation/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortia.

Upon the award of emeritus status at Boston College, he and Carolyn moved to Tampa, Florida to be closer to family.

Gordon Peter Wilson is the 117th member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.