Accountancy News 

For Mary & Ellis professor Mark Zimbelman, teaching at the BYU Marriott School of Business is about helping students find spiritual and intellectual truth. As he retires from the School of Accountancy, he reflects on how his faith has helped him make a lasting impact through both his research and his interactions with students.

An assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resources in the BYU Marriott School of Business, McKenzie Rees had a strong prompting to do a peer-mentoring project for her section of HRM 540: Organizational Effectiveness. “For me, the essence of this class is helping students understand how they can make others feel valued in their work,” Rees says.

In 1991 Deloitte & Touche Professor of Accounting Monte Swain began teaching at the BYU Marriott School of Business. He was just 29 years old—the same age as half of his students. Now, after 33 years of enriching and inspiring the next generation of business students, Swain is teaching his final semester in the School of Accountancy.

Flexibility is the key to success for Lulu Gilbert, a new Student Leadership Advisory Council (SLAC) copresident at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Her busy schedule requires an alternative take on a balanced schedule that helps her prioritize the most important parts of her life.

With two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees, Tricia Seguine is no stranger to learning. From her beginning at the School of Accountancy in the BYU Marriott School of Business, she’s learned that she can use her unique educational blend from multiple degrees to make a positive impact.

Eight professors joined the faculty at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2023. “We are excited to welcome these new faculty members,” says Brigitte Madrian, dean of BYU Marriott. “In line with our mission to develop leaders of faith, intellect, and character, these new faculty bring insight and experience that will contribute to the educational experience BYU Marriott offers its students.”

For the last 15 years, at least one student from the School of Accountancy (SOA) at the BYU Marriott School of Business has earned this prestigious award; BYU is the only university to output such a consistent record of successful examinees. In the most recent exam cycle, two recent BYU graduates received the Elijah Watt Sells award: Mitchell Behling and Ryan Quade.

When the stock market crashed in 2008, accounting graduate Jameela Wilcox Howell jumped in to help her husband start Cordovan Art School in Texas. Although challenging, the BYU Marriott School of Business had prepared Howell for life as a mother and business owner.

Having been a first-generation college student, Melissa Larson admits being frustrated by feelings of inadequacy at different times in her life. However, she’s come to understand that there’s not one right path for everyone and that trusting the Lord can help make life enjoyed and not just endured. As a teaching professor of accountancy in the BYU Marriott School of Business, Larson works to inspire confidence in students no matter their goals.

After spending the majority of his career in corporate accounting, Jonathan Liljegren realized helping students in the classroom elevated his job satisfaction and serves the upcoming generation. As a newly appointed associate teaching professor of accounting, Liljegren shares his passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ and accounting by teaching at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

For Alayna Grossnickle, Utah’s arid desert climate contrasts the lush landscape of her hometown in Maryland. But over time she has found a family of support in an unexpected place: the Brigham Young University Army ROTC.

Accounting professor Sheri Thomas often glances at the quote on the wall of her office in the BYU Marriott School of Business: “Today I choose to be brave. I choose courage over comfort.” While pursuing her dream to be a stay-at-home mother, she faced life-altering trials that refined her and helped her refocus her dream to teach accounting.

While most high school seniors were writing yearbook messages, School of Accountancy alumnus Curt Haralson was writing a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), inquiring about which majors might help him become a special agent. He chose the accounting program at BYU Marriott, a path that ultimately led him to the bureau and beyond.

Growing up, Zack Fox enjoyed spending most of his time on the football field. Although Fox’s football playing days are mostly behind him now, the lessons he learned on the field— especially the importance to always “show up”—apply throughout his life and in his new role as an assistant professor of accounting.

For School of Accountancy professor Brant Christensen, educating others and teaching younger generations is the family business. Understanding that life as a student can be challenging, Christensen earnestly mentors his students at the BYU Marriott as his predecessors mentored him.

After living and working in Seattle, New York, and Ohio, Jon Kerr—a brand-new School of Accountancy professor, tax law fanatic, and part-time beekeeper has circled back to BYU—the place where his family and his dreams of teaching began.

Beginning with the fall 2022 semester, BYU Marriott students graduating from the School of Accountancy undergraduate and graduate programs will receive a STEM designation with their degree.

From completing junior core projects together to sharing a one-bedroom apartment in New York City with two other girls and a Great Dane, Sara Sparhawk and Lyn Johnson have been through a lot together. Since graduating from the BYU Marriott School of Business, they have become cofounders of West Tenth, an online platform that enables women to easily market and sell their home-grown talents and skills. These 2004 School of Accountancy (SOA) graduates find joy in bringing entrepreneurial opportunities to women everywhere through their unique business model.

The BYU Marriott School of Business welcomed 12 new professors this fall.

This summer, four BYU Marriott School of Business students were paired with financial literacy startup FinLit for an internship. The partnership came about through a social impact project (SIP) at BYU Marriott’s Ballard Center for Social Impact, which provides students with opportunities to develop business and personal skills while applying social impact principles in real-world settings.