Speakers
William Bell, Administration & Finance for the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Friday, March 9, 10:05 am – 11:00 am
Bill Bell is the Senior Associate Commissioner for Administration & Finance for the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. As the Senior Associate Commissioner for Administration & Finance, Bill serves as the Chief Financial Officer and oversees the delivery of over $6 billion in annual education resources to the K-12 public education system in the Commonwealth. Bill has built a 30 year career in public sector financial management and administration, and has led and supported a number of transformative service delivery initiatives in the organizations he has served. Prior to a career in the education sector, Bill provided organizational change and financial improvement consulting services to state and local governments; as well as serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a budget director and chief financial officer in the Health & Human Services sector.
Patricia Casey, University of Rhode Island
Friday, March 9, 10:05 am - 11:00 am
Trish Casey is the Controller for the University of Rhode Island. The controller plays a critical role in fostering a University-wide culture of strategic financial decision-making, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the institution in pursuit of its mission through business process transformation, and inculcating a customer service orientation in the controller’s organization while maintaining appropriate checks and balances. Prior to Trish’s role as the Controller, she has served the University for more than 15 years in various capacities, including chief accountant, assistant controller, associate controller and associate athletic director of business and personnel. During her tenure at the University, she has been a member of the Strategic Budget and Planning Council and the Administration and Management Review Committee. As a member of the AMRC, Casey was on a sub-committee charged with reviewing and making recommendations to streamline administrative processes and procedures for offices of the Controller, Human Resources, Purchasing, Facilities, Budget and Business Services.
Before joining the University, Casey held the positions of vice president of finance and administration for entrepreneurial startup companies, director of accounting for a health care system, and spent many years as a Certified Public Accountant. A licensed Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner, Casey received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and her Master’s degree in Public Administration, both from the University of Rhode Island.
Michael H. Granof, University of Texas at Austin
Friday, March 9, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Dr. Granof is the Ernst & Young Distinguished Centennial Professor and the University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Accounting and at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He received his MBA from Columbia University and received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Granof is currently serving a second five-year term as a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, the board that establishes accounting and reporting standards for state and local governments. At the same time he is also serving a second five-year term on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, which establishes accounting standards for the federal government at-large and for each of its departments and agencies.
Dr. Granof’s research interests include a wide array of topics on financial and government accounting. He has been published many times in both academic and professional journals, and is the author of several books. They include Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting (New York: Wiley; 1998 and 2001, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016), Financial Accounting: Principles and Issues (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1976) and How to Cost your Labor Contract (Washington D.C.: Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.; 1973, 2011 ).
Dr. Granof served as a visiting professor in the Executive MBA Program of the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, as a Fulbright Professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and as the Erskine Professor at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch New Zealand.
He has been a member of the National Council on Governmental Accounting, the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council, the U.S. Comptroller General’s Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards and the AICPA’s Committee on Governmental Accounting and Auditing. He currently serves on the U.S. Comptroller General’s Educators Advisory Panel.
Dr. Granof is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and is a member of The University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. In 2007 he received the University of Texas Civitatis Award, which is presented to faculty members who have demonstrated exemplary campus citizenship throughout their careers at the university.
In 2017 Dr. Granof received the American Institute of CPAs Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award.
Patrick T. Kelly, Providence College
Friday March 9, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Dr. Patrick Kelly is a Professor in the Department of Accountancy at Providence College, where he serves as the Director of Ethics in Business Education for the Providence College School of Business. He served as Accountancy Department Chair for ten years and is also the former Chair of the Public Interest Section of the American Accounting Association. He teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs and his courses include Accounting Ethics, Cost Accounting, and Government & Nonprofit Accounting. His research interests include accounting ethics, education, and public interest issues. Dr. Kelly is a retired Coast Guard Commander who served on the faculty at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for ten years, teaching accounting, finance, and leadership courses. He also directed the Cadet Leadership and Character Development Program for six years. He completed his Ph.D. in Accounting at the University of Connecticut, his MBA in Accounting at New York University, and his Bachelor of Science in Management at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Seth Magaziner, General Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island
Friday, March 9, 12:00 pm – 1:25 pm
Seth was born and raised in Bristol, Rhode Island, and began his career as a public elementary school teacher in rural Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After returning home to Rhode Island, Seth worked as a vice president at Trillium Asset Management, a socially responsible investment firm with more than $1 billion of assets under management.
In his first months in office, Seth successfully championed legislation establishing new green infrastructure programs at the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. These programs are putting tradesmen and women to work on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the state, helping Rhode Islanders save on energy costs while reducing the state’s carbon footprint.
In May of 2015, Seth launched his "Transparent Treasury" initiative to help Rhode Islanders access information about how their public funds are managed. Among other features, the initiative includes a new investment policy stating that Rhode Island will only invest with fund managers that agree to full public disclosure of performance and fees, and a new online investment information center where all Rhode Islanders can see how their funds are invested.
Seth also worked with a bipartisan group of legislators to design and pass the 2015 ABLE Act, which will establish tax-efficient savings accounts for the families of disabled children.
Treasurer Magaziner also launched ‘BankLocal’, Rhode Island Treasury’s community deposit program which earmarks up to $30 million in state deposits to local banks and credit unions. The goal of the program is to support local financial institutions as they lend to small businesses in Rhode Island, supporting economic growth and opportunity in the Ocean State.
Rebeka Mazzone, IYRS School of Technology & Trades
Friday, March 9, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Rebeka is an accountant and operations manager by day and an aspiring Sommelier by night. As Chief Operations Officer at IYRS School of Technology & Trades; an amazing school offering high-caliber experiential-learning focused on teaching highly technical and craft-oriented career skills. Rebeka plays a key role in continuing IYRS’ rapid growth through expansion of new programs and facilities. She is accountable for the academic, administrative, financial, student services and risk management operations of the school and its various enterprises, to include the development of new programs, financial and operational strategy, metrics tied to that strategy.
Rebeka was talked into starting her career in public accounting with KPMG’s Higher Education, Research and Other Nonprofit practice in Washington, DC by her favorite accounting professor. After serving as audit manager to clients like Howard and Gallaudet University and the Hubbell Space Telescope, she decided it was time to move to the dark side and provide outsourced CFO services to higher education and nonprofit clients through a consulting firm. Her journey then led her to serve as the Chief Risk, Compliance and Audit Executive for a $164M multi-campus university with three hotels and multiple restaurants where she developed and led the implementation of comprehensive tools and training to create accountability throughout all levels of management and staff of the University’s 2000 employees through a shared partnership.
Dean Michael Mead, GASB
Friday, March 9, 2:30 pm – 3:45pm
GASB Update
Dean Mead is Senior Research Manager at the GASB, overseeing the GASB’s research agenda, managing external research, interfacing with the academic community, coordinating constituent outreach, and serving as staff liaison to the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council. He is the GASB liaison to financial statement user organizations, including the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM).
Dean is an adjunct member of the accounting faculty at Rutgers Business School, where he teaches governmental accounting & auditing, governmental financial analysis, and advanced topics in governmental accounting. He is a member of AAA, ABFM, National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA), Municipal Analysts Group of New York, American Association of Public Opinion Research, Governmental Research Association, and other organizations. He serves on the editorial board of Journal of Government & Nonprofit Accounting and previously served on the editorial boards of Public Budgeting & Finance and Journal of Government Financial Management.
Dean is the author of the GASB’s award-winning User Guide Series. He has published articles in journals such as Journal of Government & Nonprofit Accounting, Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, State and Local Government Review, and Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. He has contributed chapters to The Handbook of Municipal Bonds, Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health, Management Policies in Local Government Finance, and Public Financial Management, among other volumes.
In 2015, Dean received the Award for Excellence from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts for his efforts to educate municipal analysts about governmental accounting through his publications and presentations.
Elena Nicolella, The New England States Consortium Systems Organization
Friday, March 9, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Elena Nicolella is the Executive Director of the New England States Consortium Systems Organization, a private, non-profit committed to supporting the people and work of the New England Health and Human Service agencies. Elena previously worked for the State of Rhode Island for nine years in several positions, including Director of Policy and Innovation as well as Medicaid Director for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and as a consultant to the Behavioral Health agency. Elena also worked for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services for eight years as a Health Insurance Specialist. She received her Master's in Public Health from Boston University.
Barry Marks, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Friday, March 9, 4:00 pm-5:00 pm
Dr. Marks is a professor of accounting at University of Houston-Clear Lake. He teaches government and non-for-profit accounting, and individual income tax. He conducts research in state and local governmental accounting, financial management, and in the geographic disclosure practices of U.S. multinational corporations. His research includes more than 40 refereed journal articles. He currently serves as Historian for the Government-and-Non-Profit section of the American Accounting Association. He teaches professional education course for the Houston Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs each summer.
Jeffrey J. Previdi, GASB
Friday, March 9, 2018, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Jeffrey J. Previdi was appointed to serve as vice chairman of the GASB effective July 1, 2017. He began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2016. Mr. Previdi’s first term concludes on June 30, 2021 and he is eligible for reappointment to a second term.
Previously, Mr. Previdi served in a variety of roles for more than two decades at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Most recently he served as managing director and project leader in the agency’s risk program. Prior to that role, Mr. Previdi was a municipal credit analyst with S&P for 20 years ultimately co-leading the group responsible for all tax-backed ratings in the United States.
He also served on the U.S. Public Finance Criteria Committee for many years.
Mr. Previdi received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Connecticut College and a master of public policy degree from the College of William & Mary.
Vaughan Radcliffe, JOGNA Editor, Western University
Friday, March 9, 8:50 am – 9:05 am
Vaughan Radcliffe is Professor of Managerial Accounting and Control at the Ivey Business School. He is a Past President and former Research Committee Chair of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA), the publisher of the Financial Times ranked journal Contemporary Accounting Research. He is Editor of the Journal of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, a journal of the American Accounting Association. He is a winner of Ivey's school wide MBAA teaching award for excellence in MBA teaching; he is also a winner of the school’s Research Merit award.
His work has appeared in Accounting, Organizations and Society; Contemporary Accounting Research; the Journal of Business Ethics; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal and others. Professor Radcliffe has served as an Editor of Contemporary Accounting Research and is a member of six editorial boards including Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.
Marc Rubin, AAA President-Elect, Miami University of Ohio, Farmer School of Business
Friday, March 9, 2018, 8:15 am – 8:50 am
Pathways to a Sustainable Future
Marc Rubin is PwC Professor of Accountancy and Chair of the Department of Accountancy in the Farmer School of Business at Miami University of Ohio having served on its faculty since 1990. He has served at the University of Seoul as visiting faculty and as Associate Professor and Visiting Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Marc earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Marc has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals including The Accounting Review, Issues in Accounting Education, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Research in Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, and Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. He has authored research reports for the Financial Accounting Foundation and Governmental Accounting Standards Board, presented at over 50 conferences including AAA Annual Meetings, Region and Section meetings, as well as state and local conferences on issues in accounting education, financial and governmental accounting, and financial statement analysis. Marc serves on the Editorial Board of Issues in Accounting Education and Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, and previously, Research in Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting.
Marc has thirty-two years’ experience as a faculty member, is a CPA, and has received a number of academic awards for excellence including the Cincinnati Magazine Outstanding Educator Award (2014) and the Beta Gamma Sigma Distinguished Faculty Award (1998), and several teaching fellowships and research grants. He is the current President-Elect of the American Accounting Association.
Michael Souza, Landmark Medical Center and The Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island
Friday, March 9. 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Michael R. Souza, CEO of Landmark Medical Center and the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, has over 20 years of diverse experience in many facets of healthcare, from finance to public relations to government reporting.
Mr. Souza was previously President of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI), a statewide trade organization assisting member hospitals through advocacy, education and representation. He joined HARI in 2009 as Senior Vice President and became President in 2014. In this capacity, Mike developed an expertise of today’s complex healthcare landscape that is second to none.
Adding further dimension to his professional portfolio, Mikes has held numerous leadership roles in the areas of financial planning, system reimbursement, contracting and revenue analysis. He began his career as a Training Consultant with Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare in Quincy, Massachusetts.
He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and his Master’s degree in Management from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Tammy Waymire, Middle Tennessee State University
Friday March 9, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Tammy Waymire, PhD, CPA, is an Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), joining the faculty this year after serving on the faculty at Northern Illinois University (NIU) for nine years where she earned awards in teaching and research. She specializes in governmental and nonprofit accounting topics, both in the classroom and research. These interests were fueled by her background in public accounting where she audited government and nonprofit entities, and subsequent experience as a Medicaid fraud investigator and as a public utility regulator. Her research has been published in the Journal of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of Government Financial Management, Journal of Accounting Education, and Journal of Public Affairs Education. She currently serves as President-Elect of the Government and Nonprofit Section of the American Accounting Association, and she was recently appointed to a four-year term on the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee (NAC). She serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting and Journal of Accounting Education. Tammy earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arkansas Tech University, MBA from Harding University, and PhD from the University of Arkansas.