Speakers
Mark C. Dawkins
Mark C. Dawkins is a Professor of Accounting in the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida. He holds a Ph.D. in Accounting from Florida State University (1994), MBA (1987) and Masters of Accounting (1988) degrees from the University of Florida, and a B.S. in Management (1985) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
He joined UNF and the Coggin College of Business in June 2015 after serving 21 years on the faculty in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia (UGA). From 2008-2014 he served as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the Terry College, and from 2004-2008 he served as the Director of Diversity Relations. He teaches undergraduate and graduate financial accounting classes, and has taught Intermediate Accounting, MBA Financial Accounting, and Intermediate Accounting for Non-Majors. He also has taught undergraduate and graduate accounting and college-level internship classes.
He has published in The Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, the Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Managerial Issues, Sociological Inquiry, the Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, Management Accounting Quarterly, and other journals or newsletters.
Bette Kozlowski
Bette is a director in KPMG’s Philadelphia office with university relations and campus recruiting and works as a part of the faculty relations team. Bette has over 30 years of accounting and campus recruiting experience. Before joining campus recruiting, Bette was a senior manager in the audit practice and served a variety of clients in the manufacturing and higher education industries. As a director in university relations, she develops and executes our strategy for faculty relations, including coordination of academic research projects and conferences. Bette is the campus recruiting liaison with the Center for Audit Quality, KPMG Foundation and the KPMG Global Services Center. Bette is a member of the American Accounting Association. She previously was Vice Chairperson- practice for the Teaching, Learning and Curriculum section, on the Accounting Programs Leadership Group board, AAA membership committee, practice advisory committee and the education committee. In 2008, she completed a three year term on the AACSB International board of directors, along with previous appointments on the accounting accreditation committee and accreditation quality committee. She participates and chairs maintenance accreditation visits for accounting programs. Bette is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Board of Trustees of her church. Bette received a BS in Accounting with highest distinction from the Pennsylvania State University.
Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor
Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, is Vice Chairman of the American Institute of CPAs’ Board of Directors for 2015–2016.
Ellison-Taylor has a lengthy history of volunteering for the profession, including serving as a member of the AICPA Business and Industry Executive Committee, as well as the AICPA Board of Directors where she served as a member of the Audit and Finance committees. Ellison-Taylor also worked with the Benevolent Fund, and has served as a Council Representative.
She is a past Chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and has served on many of its committees, including the New Young Professional Network and Tomorrow’s CPA.
Ellison-Taylor is currently the Global Accounting Strategy Director for the Financial and Professional Services Industries for Oracle America, a leader in cloud solutions and enterprise technology. In this capacity, she provides insight to help drive innovation in this important domain, particularly as the computing paradigm shifts to Cloud and SaaS.
Previously, she served as the Global Practice team leader for Health and Human Services, working with teams worldwide where she developed and executed strategies on Cloud, Big Data, Security, Fraud Prevention/Detection, Customer Experience, and Modernization. Prior to Oracle, Kimberly worked in leadership roles at numerous other major companies and organizations, including the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Motorola; KPMG; and Prince George’s County Government, where she served as Chief Information Technology Officer.
Ellison-Taylor received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; an Accounting Certificate from the Community College of Baltimore County, an MBA from Loyola University, and a Master’s of Science in Information Technology, as well as a Chief Information Officer Certificate, from Carnegie Mellon University.
She currently resides in Maryland with her husband and two sons.
Jeannette Faber
Jeannette Faber serves as the Product Channel Manager for NASBA’s Candidate Performance Products and International Evaluation Services, as well as the organization’s wholly owned subsidiary, Aequo International. Jeannette launched and operated her own photography company for five years before being introduced to the landscape of higher education with the Financial Aid office at Harvard College. While in Cambridge she worked closely with students and parents to navigate their educational loan options and prepare for repayment. From 2011 to 2013 Jeannette took a break from employment to focus her efforts on training and competing as a professional runner, representing the Boston Athletic Association and then Brooks and Newton Running. Her greatest athletic achievement came in 2012 when she won the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis and was selected to represent the United States at the 2013 IAAF World Marathon Championship in Moscow. Jeannette holds a B.A. in Photography from Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI).
Victor M. Lorenzo
He was a co-recipient of the 2006 and 2003 Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Teacher of the Year award at UGA, and received the 2006 and 2003 Alpha Kappa Psi Accounting Teacher of the Year Award. He is a member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Accountants, the Florida Society of CPAs, the PhD Project (www.phdproject.org), and the Accounting Doctoral Student Association. In August 2009, he was one of five recipients of the inaugural Ernst & Young Inclusive Excellence Award for Accounting and Business School Faculty. In January of 2014, he received the 2014 UGA President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award at the MLK Freedom Breakfast at UGA. He is the Council Chair (2016-2017) for the American Accounting Association.
Victor is a partner in KPMG’s Audit practice in the Miami office. He has more than 13 years of experience providing financial statement audit, audit of internal control, and financial statement review services.
Prior to becoming a partner Victor completed a two-year rotation in KPMG’s Department of Professional Practice (DPP). DPP provides technical support to domestic and international operating offices and their clients in addressing and resolving complex accounting, auditing, reporting and SEC related issues. DPP is also responsible for developing firm positions on accounting and audit related matters, and is a key vehicle for enhancing the professional development of KPMG partners and employees.
Victor has provided professional audit services to both large publicly-traded companies, as well as mid-size, privately held companies. His experience includes SEC filings, carve-out financial statements, and coordination of global SOX engagements. Victor has an understanding of SEC rules and regulations, has been involved in equity offerings, including initial public offerings, and often assists in technical matters related to ASC 740 Income Taxes.
Victor was Adjunct Faculty of Intermediate Accounting at Florida International University from 2004 to 2011 and is a member of KPMG’s Hispanic/Latino Diversity Network.
Teresa S. Polley
Teresa S. Polley was appointed President of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) in May 2008, and was subsequently promoted to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer in 2010. She brings over 20 years of experience with FAF and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to the position.
Prior to her appointment, Ms. Polley served as Executive Director of Advisory Groups for the FASB. In this role, she was the primary liaison between the Board and its constituent organizations that provide input into its decision-making processes. These constituent organizations include: the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC), consisting of a diverse membership of financial statement users, preparers, and auditors representing a cross-section of industries; the Small Business Advisory Committee (SBAC), representing more than 20 users, preparers and auditors from the small business community; the User Advisory Council (UAC), representing investors and investment professionals, equity and credit analysts, and rating agencies; and the Investors Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), consisting of investors with strong technical accounting knowledge.
From 1990 to 1999, Ms. Polley served as Controller of the FAF. As Controller, she was responsible for all aspects of the FAF’s financial operations, including budgets, financial statement presentations, audits, payroll, tax reporting, and investments.
Ms. Polley joined the FASB in 1987 as a Technical Associate, was promoted to positions of increasing responsibility, and was instrumental in the administration and operation of its Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) and in the development of the inaugural edition of EITF Abstracts, first published in late 1987. Previously, she was a Senior Accountant with Arthur Andersen and Company in its Stamford, Connecticut office, where she handled the preparation of financial statements, consolidations, SEC filings and internal control evaluations, and commentary with clients in manufacturing, electronics, mining, banking, and trust services.
Ms. Polley earned a B.A. degree, summa cum laude, in accounting and French from St. Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Greater Norwalk (Connecticut) Chamber of Commerce and Malta House, a shelter serving homeless women and their newborns. She resides with her husband, Rob, in Norwalk.
Petra Robinson
Petra A. Robinson, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University (LSU). She received her Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University, with a focus on Adult Education. Keenly interested in issues related to critical literacies, diversity and social justice, global lifelong learning, and professional development in the academy, Dr. Robinson has presented at several national and international conferences, authored peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, white papers, and co-edited books on these topics.
While at Texas A&M University, Dr. Robinson served as a Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant, teaching human resource development courses and serving as an academic advisor. She also worked with the faculty development Higher Education Teaching Institute at Lone Star College System in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining LSU, Dr. Robinson was a Research Associate for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair in Education in the Graduate School of Education, Department of Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.