Accounting Professor and Team Receive Innovation in Accounting Award

PROVO, Utah – Aug 25, 2020 – David Wood, Andersen Fellow and professor of accounting at the BYU Marriott's School of Accountancy (SOA), and his team of colleagues, recently received the distinguished Innovation in Accounting Award from the American Accounting Association (AAA). The award was originally planned to be presented in Atlanta at the association’s annual business meeting. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award ceremony took place virtually on 11 August 2020.

“I was grateful when I discovered that our team received the Innovation in Accounting Education Award,” says Wood. “The award is prestigious, and being part of the team that was recognized with this award is an incredible honor. The experience was truly humbling and exciting.”
 
Wood is part of a five-person team sponsored by the Ernst & Young (EY) Foundation, called the EY Academic Resource Center. In addition to Wood, the team consists of professors and scholars from other universities and from EY. Team members include Margaret Christ, a professor from the University of Georgia; Scott Emett, a professor at Arizona State University; Jason Guthrie, an executive director at EY; Bill Titera, a retired EY partner; and Wood.

Wood and his teammates created a set of materials that feature 27 accounting cases to help students develop an “analytics mindset.” Wood says this mindset teaches students to ask questions, analyze the resulting data using various techniques, and share the results. To date, these materials have been accessed by 870 academic institutions and more than 3,200 faculty from 41 countries across the world. 

The development of these materials is the reason Wood and his team were singled out for this distinctive award. According to the AAA’s website, the Innovation in Accounting Award recognizes those who have “developed and implemented an innovative technique or method for incorporating accounting history topics into undergraduate or graduate accounting courses.”

Wood feels immense gratitude that his team’s work was recognized. “Winning this award validates the many hours our team put into improving instruction for students. All of us love our students and want them to be successful,” he says. “Creating valuable content for students to help them learn is one of the ways we strive to prepare them for success in their careers.” 
  
Wood is the third SOA professor to receive the award. “The Innovation in Accounting Education Award is one of the most prestigious awards the American Accounting Association offers, and this is the third time someone from BYU Marriott’s School of Accountancy has received it,” says Doug Prawitt, SOA director. 

Prawitt adds that Wood’s reception of this award is well deserved. “Wood’s efforts have had a significant impact on both accounting education and on the accounting profession,” he says. “Receiving this award speaks highly of Professor Wood and his colleagues, and of the School of Accountancy’s continuing success at staying at the leading edge of accounting programs across the nation.” 

The BYU Marriott School of Business prepares men and women of faith, character, and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Named for benefactors J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott, the school is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. BYU Marriott has four graduate and ten undergraduate programs with an enrollment of approximately 3,300 students.