The American Institute of CPAs awarded Kenneth Merchant with the 2014 Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award.
The award, bestowed at the annual meeting of the American Accounting Association Wednesday in Atlanta, recognizes full-time accounting professors who excel as educators and have achieved national prominence in the accounting profession.
The Deloitte & Touche chair in accountancy at the Leventhal School of Accounting in the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, Merchant also serves as a consultant to British Airways, World Bank and McGraw-Hill.
“Ken’s scholarship, teaching and overall dedication to accounting education are extraordinary,” stated Steve Matzke, AICPA director of faculty & university initiatives, who presented the award. “He embodies everything the Distinguished Achievement award is meant to recognize and his impact on the profession will be felt for years to come.”
Merchant previously served as dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting, was a research professor at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, and taught business administration at Harvard University. An author or co-author of 11 books and many articles, Merchant has previous received awards from the AAA, including the Lifetime Contribution to Management Accounting, and the Institute of Management Accountants.
Merchant holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned an MBA in operations research/production from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in industrial economics from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
