Speakers

Beverley Bahlmann
Senior Technical Manager, International Auditing & Assurance Standards Board

Beverley Bahlmann, Senior Technical Manager at the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board is a member of the Australian and South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Beverley has been with the International Auditing & Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) in New York for the past 4 and a half years and has worked on a variety of projects, including the recently published Invitation to Comment on Enhancing Audit Quality, Auditing Disclosures and the IAASB’s Strategy and Work Plan. Previously Beverley worked for 15 years in a technical and training role in audit firms in Australia, the UK and South Africa.

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Bruce K. Behn
President of the American Accounting Association

Bruce K. Behn, Ph.D., CPA is the President of the American Accounting Association (2015-16), Associate Dean for Graduate and Executive Education and Deloitte LLP Professor at The University of Tennessee (UT). He joined the Department of Accounting and Information Management in 1994 after completing his doctorate at Arizona State University and served in a number of capacities over the years within the department (including Department Head) and the college. Dr. Behn has a MBA from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., he worked for Rockwell International in Uithoorn, The Netherlands as the international financial coordinator for Allen-Bradley Europa B.V., Allen-Bradley Company as controller and financial analyst, and KPMG Peat Marwick as senior auditor. He has published articles in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance and a number of other journals and has served as the co-editor for the Journal of International Accounting Research and the associate editor of Issues in Accounting Education. Dr. Behn recently chaired the Pathways Commission and is a past Vice-President of the American Accounting Association (AAA), past President of the International Accounting Section (AAA) and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy (FSA) and past chair of the AICPA’s Pre-certification Education Executive Committee. He has also been the recipient of a number of teaching awards including the AAA's Innovation in Accounting Education award, UT’s Alumni Outstanding Teaching award, and the Tennessee Society of CPAs Outstanding Educator of the Year.

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Gwenda R. Jensen
Senior Technical Manager (Chartered Accountant)

Gwenda R. Jensen is a Senior Technical Manager with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Since starting with the IPSASB in 2010 she has led five technical projects: accounting for heritage assets, accounting for involvement with emissions trading schemes, reporting service performance information, the IPSASB’s conceptual framework as it applies to information presentation and disclosures, and IPSAS alignment with statistical accounting. From 2005 to 2010 Gwenda led the United Nations system’s Accounting Standards (then “IPSAS adoption”) project. The UN General Assembly approved IPSAS adoption in 2006. By 2010 eight United Nations system organizations had successfully implemented IPSAS and a further twelve were on track to full IPSAS compliance with their 2012 financial statements.

Gwenda’s project team was responsible for implementation support, development of IPSAS–compliant financial accounting policies, system–wide IPSAS training and guidance. During this period Gwenda acted as the UNDP IPSASB Observer to provide input on IPSAS implementation issues to the IPSASB.

Gwenda’s research background includes four years as a researcher and lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where she specialized in public sector financial reporting. She has published academic papers on a variety of topics, including accounting for governments’ social benefit obligations and IPSAS adoption. Her conference papers include papers on the IPSASB’s role with respect to fiscal sustainability, the history of the New Zealand Audit Office, and the history of the IPSASB. She has also worked for the New Zealand Treasury and the Office of the Auditor-General of New Zealand as a policy adviser and researcher.

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Alta Prinsloo
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Strategy, for the International Federation of Accountants® (IFAC)

Alta Prinsloo, CA SA, is the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director, Strategy, for the International Federation of Accountants® (IFAC®). Previously, she served as Director and Executive Director, Governance and Operations. In her current role, she is responsible for strategic planning and risk management, and day-to-day operations, including human resources and IT. She also oversees Global Accountancy Profession Support, which includes support for professional accountants in business and small- and medium-sized practices, as well as new initiatives and the Global Knowledge Gateway. Additionally, she oversees Global Accountancy Profession Development, which includes global capacity building and professional accountancy organization development activities, and translations.

Ms. Prinsloo previously served as Deputy Director of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board® (IAASB®), where she provided technical direction on the development of pronouncements from 2002 to 2009. From 1997 to 2002, Ms. Prinsloo worked at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), becoming its Technical Director in 2000. At SAICA, she was responsible for developing auditing standards, accounting and auditing guidance for entities operating in regulated industries, and corporate governance-related matters. In 1996, Ms. Prinsloo worked at Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, where she was responsible for professional development of the internal audit function. Previously, she worked in the national technical and training office of PwC.

Ms. Prinsloo holds a Master’s Degree in financial management. Originally from South Africa, Ms. Prinsloo now lives in New York with her husband and two children.

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Katherine Schipper
President of International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER)

Katherine Schipper is the Thomas F. Keller Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Ms. Schipper holds a BA degree summa cum laude from the University of Dayton, MBA, MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago and honorary degrees from Notre Dame University, the Norwegian School of Economics, the Stockholm School of Economics and the Singapore Management University. Prior to joining Duke University’s faculty, she was a Board member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). She has also been a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago.

Ms. Schipper has published research papers on topics in financial reporting, corporation finance and corporate governance. She is a frequent speaker on matters related to international accounting convergence, financial reporting standard setting and financial reporting quality. She has been named the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Educator and Distinguished International Lecturer, and has been elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame. She has served the American Accounting Association as Director of Research, as President and as President of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section. She has served the International Association for Accounting Education and Research as Vice President-Research and she is currently serving as President. She is or has been a member of the governing boards of two public companies, a mutual fund and a not-for-profit entity.

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Ken Siong
Technical Director, IESBA

Ken Siong became technical director of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) in January 2013. In his role, Mr. Siong manages and oversees the work of the IESBA, including its strategic and operational activities and its work program. As technical director, Mr. Siong also plays a key role in developing and strengthening the IESBA’s relationships with its stakeholders.

Mr. Siong previously served as deputy director of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). In this capacity, he provided technical direction and support on the development of IAASB pronouncements. He also played a key role in managing the IAASB’s strategic and operational activities, and the IAASB’s relationship with major national auditing standard setters.

Mr. Siong joined the Staff of the IAASB in 2002. Previously, he was a senior manager in the assurance practice of PwC in Hong Kong, where he managed a number of transnational audits in various industries.

Mr. Siong graduated from the University of Bristol in the UK with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.