Bruce Behn, the Deloitte LLP Professor, has received the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Special Recognition Award and the American Accounting Association (AAA) Outstanding Service Award.
The AICPA Special Recognition Award is given when projects or initiatives warrant special recognition.
The AAA Outstanding Service Award recognizes service that goes beyond education and research. It may be given at any time by the decision of the board of directors.
Behn is head of the Department of Accounting and Information Management in the College of Business Administration and a faculty fellow in the college’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
He received the accolades because of his involvement in the Pathways Commission, an AICPA/AAA partnership that studied and recommended improvements in accounting education. From 2010 to 2012, Behn chaired the commission, which included fifty other accounting professionals and academics. His tenure ended with seven recommendations that are to be implemented over the next three years.
As the Pathways Commission begins its implementation phase, Behn will continue lending his leadership to the project as one of the AAA’s two representatives on the commission. The full report can be found on the Commission’s website.
Behn accepted the awards on behalf of the entire commission.
“Two years ago, we began the task of crafting a bold vision to embrace the future of accounting education,” he said. “Our list of recommendations only represents the beginning of this process. The much more challenging task of implementation lies ahead, which includes securing the future of the accounting discipline as a learned profession.”
Behn joined the UT faculty in 1994 after completing his doctorate at Arizona State University. His research is widely published, and he has served as a co-editor or associate editor for several prestigious accounting journals. He is a past vice president of AAA, past president of AAA’s International Accounting Section and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, and past chair of the AICPA’s Pre-certification Education Executive Committee.
Behn also is an award winner in the classroom, having received a number of teaching honors, including the AAA’s Innovation in Accounting Education Award, UT’s Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Educator of the Year.
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CONTACT:
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)
Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)