BYU Professor Elected President of American Accounting Association

PROVO, Utah – May 29, 2009 – Kevin Stocks, director of the Brigham Young University School of Accountancy, has been selected as president-elect of the American Accounting Association.

"I know that he'll be a terrific leader," says Nancy Bangranoff, the current AAA president. "People admire his leadership style, they admire his integrity, and they admire his passion for accounting education."

Starting in August, Stocks will serve for one year as president-elect, one year as president and then one year as immediate past president. This is a mark of distinction in the accounting academic world for both Stocks and the university. BYU professor and former Marriott School of Management Associate Dean W. Steve Albrecht also served as the organization's president from 1997–1998.

"Kevin is a very highly respected professor," Albrecht says. "He has done faithful service across the country in various organizations and has represented the school extremely well."

The AAA is a society of academics that promotes worldwide excellence in accounting education, research and practice. Stocks, who has been involved with the AAA in numerous capacities for nearly 30 years, was nominated by a committee comprised of past presidents and other prominent members. The committee looks at potential candidates' commitment to service in the organization as well as the individual devotion to improving accounting education and practice.

"Professor Stocks has always been a leader in the AAA. He has completed a number of very important tasks to strengthen accounting education and the practice of accounting," says Gary Cornia, Marriott School dean. "He follows the same model at BYU. He does everything he can to make us better."

Stocks joined the faculty at BYU in 1983. Since that time, he has taught courses at all levels in the accounting and MBA programs, authored two books and published articles in several scholarly journals. For the past six years, Stocks has served as the director of the BYU School of Accountancy.

"Consistent with his lifelong commitment to excellence and fellowship at BYU and as a KPMG endowed professor, we are pleased that Kevin will further extend his reach to the leadership of the American Accounting Association," says Manny Fernandez, KPMG national managing partner, university relations and recruiting. "We have no doubt that after his tenure with the AAA as president-elect and president, the organization and the accounting profession will be better off, because of his service."

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.