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Mark Taylor Named Director of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy After a Two Year Search

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (April 30, 2019) -- After a two-year search, the Muma College of Business has selected a new director for the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy: Mark Taylor, department chair and accounting professor with the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Taylor will assume the directorship this summer.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” he wrote in an open letter to faculty, staff and alumni of the school. “I’m inspired by Lynn’s leadership in endowing the school, the strong faculty and students and outstanding alumni.

“I’m also grateful for the capable leadership of Professor Uday Murthy, who has led the school for the last eight years, setting the stage for future growth and development. He leaves behind some enormous shoes to fill in the director’s office.”

The field of accounting is evolving, Taylor said, and he stands ready to usher new trends into the curriculum.

“The challenge for accountancy education is the increasing demands on graduates regarding data analytics, big data and other related technology skills,” he said. “While traditional accounting skills will always be crucial, workplace demands for these and other skills continue to increase.

“The Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy has a great foundation in these areas, especially accounting information systems and data analytics, and we will continue to build on that, refining our curriculum to provide additional skills to our graduates to create even more demand for them at graduation.

“We will also continue to build additional relationships with employers in the Tampa Bay area and beyond,” he said, “to provide our graduates additional employment and career opportunities.”

Murthy has been the director of the school of accountancy since 2011 and a USF faculty member since 2002. He is the Quinn Eminent Scholar in the accounting school and has received numerous research awards over the years. He teaches graduate courses in accounting information systems and PhD seminars in research methods.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the director of the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy,” he said. “After eight years in this capacity, I am looking forward to returning to the faculty so that I can devote more time to my primary passions: teaching and research.

“We look forward to (Dr. Taylor’s) leadership to advance our undergraduate, master’s degree and doctoral programs even further,” Murthy said.

Muma College of Business Dean Moez Limayem said Taylor was drawn to the academic strengths of the accountancy program, which, under Murthy’s leadership, has emerged as a leader in providing the tools students need to land well-paying jobs upon graduation. More and more, those students must have a grasp not only of accounting and auditing skills, but of data collection and analytics expertise as well.

“Dr. Taylor is an exceptional educator and researcher in the field of accounting and auditing,” Limayem said, “and he also has built a remarkable network of connections with the industry; connections that will create a pipeline for our graduates to land rewarding jobs in businesses that are looking for exceptional young minds to carry them forward in this very competitive field.

“We are all looking forward to welcoming him here this summer and excited to watch as he incorporates ever-evolving industry trends into the curriculum and takes the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy to even higher levels.”

Taylor earneda doctorate from the Eller School of Business at the University of Arizona and a master’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. He has been with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland since 2009. He is the Andrew D. Braden Professor of Accounting and Auditing teaches courses in corporate governance and auditing assurance areas. He is the past president of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association and he also has served on the Auditing Section Executive Committee.

He served for three years on the Senior Technical Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Auditing Standards Board. He also is the audit committee chair and independent trustee on three investment company trusts and has had research sponsored by the Center for Audit Quality twice in the past three years.

Though he’s an active runner, bicyclist and instrument-rated private pilot, Taylor’s main focus is accounting.

“Now is a fantastic time to study accountancy, Taylor said. “The Financial Education and Research Foundation recently reported that demand for accountancy remains strong going into the fall of 2019 recruiting season. In fact, the data shows accounting to be the top bachelor’s degree in demand. This is fantastic news.”

He said he is eager to make Tampa his home.

“I am very much looking forward to working with the faculty, staff and alumni to continue to build the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy brand and reputation,” he said, “to further honor Lynn Pippenger’s inspirational story of leadership, professionalism and her gift to this school.”