UA’s Mary Stone Named American Accounting Association’s 2007 Outstanding Educator

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Mary Stone, director of the Culverhouse School of Accountancy at The University of Alabama, has been named the 2007 winner of the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Accounting Educator Award.

“I feel so very fortunate that I have had the opportunity to work with so many good people and had so many good people to rely on,” Stone said. “For me, that is what makes being an educator at The University of Alabama the very best occupation in the world.”

Stone is a past president of the American Accounting Association. She is also a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, the AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee, the AACSB International Accounting Accreditation Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the Accounting Hall of Fame.

“Everyone at the Culverhouse School of Accountancy and the Culverhouse College of Commerce has always supported me, especially Dean Barry Mason,” Stone said. “That’s been very important to my teaching and my research.”

Stone said her service with the national accounting organization also has been highly beneficial.

“One of the rewards of serving on Financial Standards Advisory Council was getting to know University of Alabama alumni such as Gary Fayard, the chief financial officer for The Coca-Cola Company, and other Alabama alums at international accounting firms,” Stone said. “Getting to work with these types of people gave me some very inspirational examples that I could share with students, and I think that greatly enhances their educational experience.”

“We are so very proud of Dr. Stone and this recognition,” said Dr. J. Barry Mason, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce, “but we are hardly surprised. Under her stewardship, the Culverhouse School of Accountancy, one of the premier accounting schools in the world, has continued its high level of excellence.”

The honor was announced in the Winter 2007 issue of Accounting Education News. Stone will receive a plaque, citation and $5,000 at the 2007 American Accounting Association’s annual meeting. This award is funded by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation. An additional $5,000 will be donated, by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation, to the AAA in the winner’s name. The award winner will determine how the AAA will use the funds.

The general criteria, as adopted in 1972 when the Outstanding Accounting Educator Award was initiated, are contributions to accounting education from scholarly endeavors in research and teaching over a sustained period of time through educational innovation, excellence in teaching, publications, research guidance to graduate students, and significant involvement in professional and academic societies and activities.

Stone attended Central Florida University (B.A. and M.S.) and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.).

Her work has been published in leading accounting journals, including Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Accounting Horizons, Research in Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, and Government Finance Review.

She has served on the editorial boards of Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Issues in Accounting Education, and Advances in Accounting. A CPA, she is a member of the AICPA’s Pre-Certification Education Executive Committee.

The Culverhouse School of Accountancy has long been recognized as one of the premier schools of accountancy in the world. The overall program currently is ranked 15th among public universities by U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 15th and the undergraduate program 14th by Public Accounting Report.