UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Henock Louis, the KPMG Professor of Accounting, will assume the role of chair of the Accounting Department in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, effective July 1.
He will succeed Steve Huddart, Smeal Chair Professor in Accounting, who served as department chair for the past seven years. Huddart will be transitioning to senior associate dean for research and faculty.
“When I selected ‘business administration’ as a (second) major in college, I was first interested in the ‘administration’ side of the field. I acquired my strong interests for business, teaching and research much later. I view the department chair appointment as a unique opportunity to combine my passion for teaching and research with my strong interest in administration,” Louis said.
“I want to be a strong advocate for student interest, while promoting the academic reputation of the Department," he added.
Louis has been a member of the Smeal faculty since 2001. He teaches financial accounting and financial statement analysis. His research expertise spans earnings management financial reporting, market anomalies, and corporate finance.
His work is published in the top accounting, business and finance journals. He has conducted research seminars at a host of major American universities and throughout the world, including in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, Turkey and the U.K. He received the 2005 Excellence in Accounting Research Award from the American Accounting Association Diversity Section.
Louis has served on the editorial boards of two of the elite academic journals in accounting, the Accounting Review and the Contemporary Accounting Research, and as an ad hoc reviewer for all the major accounting and finance journals. He has also served on the Haitian Advisory Committee for the North-American Division of Seventh Day Adventists. He was an Organization of American States Graduate Fellow and a KPMG Doctoral Scholar. He is also a member of various accounting, finance and economic academic associations.
Louis holds a doctorate in accounting from Ohio State University, a doctorate in finance and a master’s in accounting from the University of Mississippi, and undergraduate degrees in theology and business.